


Really? Again? My poor salad

by loloisafangirl



Series: The Salad Saga [2]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Angst, Author Is Sleep Deprived, Bonding, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Humour, I dont hate any characters so you're most likely safe, I'm young myself but I grew up fast so plz don't read this if ur really young, M/M, Mental Health Issues, OC's but if you read my other fic you'll know that they don't really feel like them, Recovery, Self Confidence Issues, Slow Burn, Smut, Swearing, The Big Three (Percy Jackson), This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things, any triggering topics will be warned about in the notes before the chapter starts, ayyy guess who's back and ready to annoy, big three friendly, but may show up tbh idk what I'm doing, but very little and not graphic, crack ship but not crack fic, cuz we all know, dark themes at times, depends on how it plays out, gods turned to teenagers, if you hate any of the big three this is not the story for you, im not sure if this is going to be z/p/h or just p/h, jercy is only mentioned, love y’all plz give this a shot :), mentions of self harm and eating disorders, none of the big three are assholes, not percabeth but percabeth friendly, poseidon is short and there's nothing you can do about it, probably lots of references to other fandoms but I'll try to limit a lil bit, sally is only mentioned I believe, sequel to really? right in front of my salad?, there are some dark topics handled even if it's not the whole fic, unless y'all want that tbh I'll write anything, verryyyyyy slow burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-03
Updated: 2020-11-16
Packaged: 2021-02-27 18:40:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 19
Words: 111,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22550374
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/loloisafangirl/pseuds/loloisafangirl
Summary: this is probably the crackiest crack ship of all crack ships but it's not a crack ficSequel to "Really? Right in front of my salad?" because some of y'all started to ship these two :)(Reading "Really? Right in front of my salad?" is not necessary to understand the plot of this, however I reference it a lot and the characters' relationship starting out will not make sense. Some OC characters were introduced in the last one and show up occasionally, however you will probably get the idea of what they're like without needing to read it. But please do anyway haha)As of right now, this is probably going to just be Poseidon/Hades, however if y'all want Zeus thrown in the mix it might happen. Never thought I'd type that sentence but aightAs mentioned in the tags, this is not Percabeth, but it's not bashed at allAs for a real summary: camp half blood, hades, poseidon, gay. thank you.It goes without saying, but don't like don't read. If you're fine with Zeus and Hera or Hades and Persephone, you should be fine with this. No homophobia will be tolerated.**UNCOMPLETED/DISCONTINUED**
Relationships: Hades/Poseidon (Percy Jackson), Hades/Poseidon/Zeus (Percy Jackson), Nico di Angelo/Will Solace, maybe lol - Relationship
Series: The Salad Saga [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1622308
Comments: 330
Kudos: 184





	1. did they send me daughters, when I askeddd for sons?

**Author's Note:**

> *backstreet boys voice* oh my god I'm back agaiinnn
> 
> hey y'all!! iss me. guess who's about annoy everyone on the solangelo and jercy tags again? if you guessed me ur correct. welcome back or welcome if you haven't read RRIFOMS! wow that's a long acronym
> 
> I'm back for the sequel!!!! are y'all excited??? you should be. this is a threat
> 
> so you probably read the summary but imma say it again: this is probably going to just be hades/poseidon, but zeus could end up in there if you want him to 
> 
> also, unfortunately jercy is not going to be mentioned as much in this one, so it's only going to be tagged as that for the first few chapters. It's just so that everyone that came from that tag can see that the sequel's up, then they can either bookmark it or check the solangelo tag :)
> 
> so yeah!!! I still don't know what I'm doing in this one either but try to enjoy anyway :)
> 
> (BTW this is a direct continuation of the last chapter of RRIFOMS. It is only separated because this is where the bonding turns more to romance, so if it weren't for some readers not shipping them romantically it would probably still all be one long ass fic haha<3)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello!!! idk what to put here kshdkdj

The sand was hot between his toes. 

Soft and gentle, like a warm breeze. He moved them together lightly, and the sand grew gritty, scratching against the soft pads of his inner toes. The lake lapped a few inches away from them, but did not venture further. His fingers played with it too, pinching the soft substance between the pads of his fingertips and then letting it fall back to the rest. It was somewhat ticklish against his skull, mixing in with his hair and heating the back of his neck. He knew his back would be covered in it too, but he did not mind. Hades was helping with his hair anyway, combing his strong fingers through the tangled locks.

Poseidon sighed, squinting at the bright sky above them. Hades smiled when he turned his gaze to him, but did not remove his eyes from the pages of the book he was holding. He turned to Zeus, only to find him peacefully asleep, arm thrown carelessly under his head, the other curled around a book he had been reading.

It had been about three weeks since they arrived at camp, about a week and a half since Percy left. The campers’ icy attitude towards him melted, though did not completely disappear. Little streams of freezing water followed him as he walked, brushing against his ankles and climbing up his back. He could only hope that they’d run off soon.

It was about an hour before dinner, maybe half of that. He’d lost track of time when he closed his eyes, daydreaming about nothing and everything at the same time. He wasn’t sure what he’d have tonight. He wasn’t sure if he’d have anything. Perhaps a pizza slice, or a salad, or chicken strips. They made good chicken strips here. 

Life at camp was pretty...unexpected. Not in a bad way. Well, kind of in a bad way. But not. Like—it was good in some ways and bad in others.

Basically, it was boring.

Okay, okay, so maybe he didn’t want another war to break out, and maybe he didn’t want to sweat buckets training all day. But he at least wanted to do  _ something.  _ He felt useless here, like he was contributing anything to society. All he did was wake up, go to breakfast, chill at the lake, go to lunch, chill under a tree by the lake, go to supper, go to the campfire, then go to bed again. All alone in his cabin. No one to keep him company. At least Hades had Nico, he had nothing but the fountain in the corner and the roof above him. Admittedly, he had it better than Zeus, who had to feel the eyes of a statue replica of himself every night. Or maybe he liked that. Poseidon wouldn’t put it below him.

The other campers were very similar. They played volleyball or basketball or practiced archery or raced down the beach. There was no pressure to train or strategize battles, no need to craft more weapons or keep guards at the border of camp. Of course, some trained anyway. He often caught himself watching some Ares and Athena kids battling out in the training arena, the way they moved and striked just like so many heroes before them, differing in strategies but maintaining the overall rhythm. He did not dare go down there himself. He was not welcome.

He ached to do something, to help the Apollo kids in the infirmary or at least go back to his workout routine. 

  
Well—he _had_ tried to go back. And then he realized he couldn’t even do a push-up in this form, and he was too embarrassed to try again. 

One good thing that had come out of this, was that he had actually made friends. Well, that sounded sad, but...yeah. He had his family his whole life and they were mostly friends, both in the sense of not being biologically related and also seeing each other every 10 000 years. Well, that was an exaggeration. You get the point. But that was about it. Oh—and Stevey, the fish he’d befriended before getting sent off to the mortal world. He frowned. He still missed Stevey. 

Now his list had expanded to Will, Frank, Piper, kinda Annabeth, and kinda Clarisse. Clarisse just stood up for him once and they said hi to each other, so he wasn’t really sure if they’d be classified as friends or not. Probably not. Oh well. Oh, and obviously Nico, Thalia, Hazel, and Jason, but they were his nephews and nieces, so calling them friends would be weird. Even though they weren’t technically related to him. Still. Weird. And Percy. But again. His son was not his friend, he was his son. But not in a bad way. He didn’t know, okay? It felt weird calling him a friend.

But other than that, life here was...honestly not the most ideal. Like—It wasn’t like Poseidon didn’t usually just sit on his bum at a beach, but here it was different. You didn’t have a choice to relax, you just had nothing else to do. It was getting dreadfully boring. 

He sighed once more as Hades gave one last stroke to his hair, and then used that hand to hold his book.

As he walked to the dinner table that night, he didn’t know that he’d soon come to regret ever hating the boredom and the ability to relax. He didn’t know that his future self would resent him, call him ungrateful. He didn’t know of the mess he was about to get himself into.

***

“Zeus, Poseidon, Hades.”

Chiron’s voice was not overpowering, but loud enough to be heard over the crowd of campers heading back to their cabins after the campfire. Said three turned, and Poseidon saw a few others turn as well. The sturdy half-man, half-horse was standing near the back of the campfire, his sleek coat gleaming in the firelight. Poseidon shared a glance with his two companions, and gave a little shrug before worming himself through the crowd against the grain. When they were standing in front of him, Chiron placed a gentle hand on Poseidon’s shoulder and guided him towards the big house. “I wish to have a word with the three of you.”

Poseidon glanced at Zeus worriedly. When their eyes met, he looked just as confused as Poseidon felt. Hades stood on the other side of Chiron, ambling quite a bit below the centaur, which said a lot. “What is it you wish to speak about, brother?”

Poseidon had almost forgotten that they spoke formally to other divinities, and felt rather foolish with the amount of times he talked as he normally would around his brother and nephew. Especially considering he hadn’t seen them in a while. He would make an effort to try to do as he normally would again, but he wanted to wait just a little longer before he had to go back to his godly ways. As much as he hated the physical aspects of being mortal, the lack of formality was not something he was going to miss.

“Oh, nothing major,” Chiron said. He sounded almost identical to the last time Poseidon had spoken to him, if not a little more careless. Meaning, his voice was more buoyant than it had been, and whether that be from age or the new generations, Poseidon did not know. “Here, we’re almost at the big house. I will explain everything there.”

His hand never left Poseidon’s shoulder as they approached the big house, a steady weight on his right side. There was a nervous feeling in Poseidon’s gut, snaking his way through the lower regions of his stomach. What was it Chiron wished to say? Poseidon didn’t think they’d done anything wrong or broken any rules…

When they approached the big house, Chiron lead them inside instead of sitting them at the deck table outside as he usually would. The house had an eerie feel about it, though that could be the late hour and darkness coating the walls. Small objects were placed on scattered shelves, but it was too dark for Poseidon to make out what they were. Half of him wanted to know, and the other half didn’t. 

Chiron gestured to the lone couch and chair along one of the walls. Poseidon and Hades took the couch, Zeus took the chair. 

“Oh, they’re here.”

It was only his nephew’s voice that alerted Poseidon of his presence. With eyebrows raised, Poseidon found Dionysus sitting on a chair in the corner, sipping some Coca-Cola. 

“Have you been sitting in the dark all this time, Dionysus?” Chiron asked, reaching behind him and flicking a lightswitch. The room was immediately bathed in light, and Poseidon’s eyes closed in protest. When he squinted them open once more, Dionysus was still looking down at his stack of cards. 

“Well yes,” he said, as if it was a sensible thing to do, “and I was rather enjoying it until you four came.”

“Now, now, Dionysus, this was your idea.” Chiron’s smile was warm as he walked —well, trotted—to stand in front of Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever, Horse Man.”

Chiron merely continued to smile, and turned to the three of them. “So, brothers. First of all, it’s lovely to see you after all these years.”

Poseidon knew what he really meant: they  _ had  _ seen each other over the past few centuries, they just simply did not spend time together. The moments they were together were bound over war and grief, not a bond between brothers. Well—half brothers.

Hades nodded his head. “It’s lovely to see you as well, Chiron.”

“Likewise.” Zeus too gave an incline of his head.

Now feeling like he had to say something, Poseidon also nodded. “You as well.” He thought that was formal enough.

Chiron’s smile grew wider for a second, and then fell back to normal. “We’ve been meaning to speak to you for a while about the things you do at camp.” 

Poseidon’s mouth dried. Did someone spread a rumor or something? He couldn’t remember doing anything wrong, let alone against camp rules…

Chiron held up a hand, and his smile turned amused. “Now now, you are not in trouble.” Poseidon let out a little sigh. “We’re simply suggesting things. All three of you are starting to get bored, I presume?”

Poseidon felt a little ashamed when he nodded, and Zeus and Hades didn’t look too far off. Chiron’s smile still did not falter. “I’m sure the difference between kinghood and mortality is quite the contrast. After all, you’ve only had short vacations, am I correct?” Poseidon and Zeus nodded, while Hades confirmed with an “indeed”. “Well, Dionysus and I were thinking —” he waved a hand around, “— perhaps...you could help out with some things.”

Poseidon leaned forward, a little excitement creeping into him. Helping was better than doing nothing, even if it was chores. “Of course, Chiron, what is it you wish for us to do?” Tend to the lake? Canoe in the lake? Do anything with the lake? He’d be down for doing anything with the lake. “I can take care of the lake if you’d like.”

He let out a small chuckle. “I was thinking more mundane things, unfortunately.” He trotted to a fruit basket on a small stand and took an apple. “Perhaps planning capture the flag or tending to the stables. Or perhaps —” he turned around, looking at Poseidon specifically, “—help some of the dear Apollo kids in the infirmary. After recent events, the numbers in cabin 7 have dropped some.”

A little uncertainty swirled in Poseidon’s gut at Chiron’s look. Did he specifically not do enough? Or did he just seem like a good fit in the infirmary or something? Or, wait—Will. Chiron must’ve known that he was good friends with Will. Poseidon smiled, his gut unclenching. “Of course, Chiron.”

Chiron gave another warm smile, this time with a little twinkle in his eye. “And what about you two?” He turned to Zeus and Hades. “I’m sure you’d love to work in the infirmary, but it can’t be too crowded. Would you prefer perhaps helping develop our training schedule? Or maybe our next tournament? We’re fresh out of ideas.”

Zeus shrugged. “I wouldn’t mind that.”

Chiron’s eyes lost their twinkle but he looked no less kind. “I knew you would.” He turned to Hades. “And Hades, how would you like to help Dionyus and I in our duties? I’m sure you’re the best fit.”

Poseidon felt a little offended at that, but mostly amused at the complete flabbergast on Zeus’ face. Hades threw a smirk at him as he started to half-splutter, and turned to Chiron to give a kindly incline of his head. “Indeed I would, brother.”

“Alright then!” Chiron clapped his hands together, but cupped them so it was muffled. “Of course, as of now you are campers and shall be treated as such, so you have no requirement to do any of these activities when you feel down or sick. However I do expect you to help out whenever possible, specifically on capture the flag days for you, Poseidon.”

Poseidon inclined his head, and Zeus and Hades followed suit. Poseidon put his hands on the couch to push himself up, but Chiron held up his hand, causing him to release the couch and flop down ungracefully.

“It has come to my attention that none of you were properly informed of camp rules. Thank you for the reminder, kind Dionysus.” Dionysus grunted, and Chiron continued. “I know that you deserve special treatment given the circumstances, however giving you that will potentially make campers fear that they are not good enough, or that I should be treating them better than I am. Because of this, I expect you to act as you would if you were a demigod, as if you were a child of the person you are. Given that—” he tossed the apple between his palms, “—you are expected to follow camp rules. First and foremost, no killing or maiming unless in self-defense. Either of these acts will land you outside of our borders, or kitchen duty for a month.”

Poseidon suppressed a snort at that.

“Number two: no boy and girl alone in a cabin at any given time. Given the new circumstances, we’ve also updated our rules to no queer-identifying pair of boys or girls alone in a cabin at one time. And —” he gave a sharp look to Zeus, “ — neither of those potential pairs alone in the weaponry room —” Poseidon was about to snort, before Chiron turned his heated gaze to him, “ — _ or  _ infirmary _. _ ” 

Poseidon and Zeus recoiled, while Hades visibly suppressed a smile. 

What did  _ he _ do to make Chiron think he’d bang a camper out of the blue? Isn’t that just Zeus’ thing? Like —yeah, he screwed around a lot when he was younger, but he thought people knew he was over that? It was just people he really, really liked now...

The offense must’ve shown on his face, because Chrion gave him a solemn look. “I wish to speak with you alone for a moment after your brothers are gone, Lord Poseidon.”

Poseidon gaped even further at that. He spluttered for a moment, before: “And _not_ Zeus?? What did  _ I  _ do?” 

Chiron just gave him a serious look, silencing him. Zeus was snickering behind his hand, while Hades was looking forward, obviously trying to suppress his amusement. There was also a trace of something hard in his eyes, like he was annoyed at Poseidon or something.  _ What did  _ I _ do?? Doesn’t Chiron know I’ve slowed down?? I had the same amount of kids as Athena did before the oath, and now I can’t even have any!  _ He didn’t say any of that out loud, instead huffing and crossing his arms. In hindsight, that probably wasn’t the best thing to do in that situation.

Chiron looked away from him and started pacing again. “Number three is pretty straight forward: no attacking unless the person agrees to spar. And finally number four: no leaving camp without permission. I expect all of you to practice basic decency as well as basic hygiene. You all have showers in your cabins, however if for some reason you have to use the public ones, they are located by the training arena. The toothbrushes are under the bathroom sink, as well as toothpaste and deodorant, as I’m sure you’ve found. Shall you run out, the infirmary carries some. Tardiness to mealtimes more than thrice will land you kitchen duty, however skipping will not leave you with a punishment in most cases. No more than eight hours of training a day, and no less than two meals a day unless you’ve had specific permission from myself or Dionysus. Also, no sitting at a table that is not designed for your cabin, and no PDA. Again, these are not rules, but expectations. “Now—” he clapped his hands together again, “—I believe that is all. Zeus, Hades, you’re free to go, but Poseidon I wish to have a word.” 

Hades and Zeus stood, leaving Poseidon sitting awkwardly on the couch. Hades gave him a small, confused smile on his way out, while Zeus shot him a teasing smirk. Poseidon just continued to stare at the wall, heart pounding a little.

As soon as they left, Chiron turned to him. “Ah, Poseidon. It is truly nice to see you again.”

Poseidon nodded, mouth suddenly dry again. “Likewise, Chiron.”

“Now—” Chiron started pacing again, “—you’re probably wondering why I kept you, hm?” The floor creaked a little under his hooves.

Poseidon nodded, not feeling like he could speak. He rubbed his palms against his jeans, feeling them grow clammy.

“Well, I simply wished to give you a warning.” Chiron turned to him, still with a warm smile on his face. “I have been informed that there are a select few campers that have caught an interest in you as of late. I have no objections to the potential relationship you may develop with any of the select members of that group, however I ask that you do not attempt any form of...intimacy on these grounds. Campers will always find a way, of course, but I ask you to please try your best not to give into those urges.”

Poseidon grew more and more offended with every word, while his cheeks grew hotter and hotter. “Well…” What the fuck? First of all: as far as he knew, no one even liked him in a non-romantic way, and second of all: why was Chiron telling him this specifically? He voiced his thoughts aloud: “Um, with all due respect Chiron, why are you only telling me this instead of my brothers and I as a group?”

“Ah yes, I knew you would ask that.” The fruit still bounced between his palms, never touching his lips. “I am going to talk to your brothers about this as well, however I felt the need to tell you this tonight, as those select few campers, or so I’ve been told, plan on making moves rather quickly. They think of you...almost as a competition, though that sounds harsher than what it truly is. They truly mean no harm, I hope you know. I ask that you do not let it venture too far, as afterall, you’re only in the physical form of a teenager. Everyone else here is actually a teenager, or just used to be. Luckily for you, most of these campers are eighteen and over, however again I ask of you to make sure of that. I have nothing against you, Lord Poseidon,” he gave Poseidon another kind smile, a knowing glint in his eyes, “I simply know that you are the target of a few select individuals right now, while your brothers are more admired by all rather than loved by few, if you understand my implications.”

Poseidon nodded after a moment, a little bit of his offense creeping down. Well, that made more sense. Not the people liking him part, but the reason why he talked to him specifically. Being honest, he was starting to think that someone had told Chiron this as a prank, because as far as he knew most of camp was still iffy about him at best. They’d gotten past the “he’s just pretending to be Poseidon” thing, but rather than accepting him after that they’ve started the “he should be better if he’s really Poseidon” thing. 

Nonetheless, he nodded. “Alright. Thank you for telling me, brother. I will try to be as aware of it as I can."

Chiron gave him another smile. “Of course, Poseidon. You may leave now, have a good night.”

Poseidon nodded, and pushed himself off the couch. He stood awkwardly there for a moment, before giving an equally awkward smile and then making his exit.

He was relieved when the fresh, cool air hit his face, the darkness soothing against his eyes. Once they adjusted, he spotted Zeus and Hades hovering a little ways away behind a tree, not looking too comfortable as they darted their eyes around, presumably wary of harpies. Poseidon himself was not too fond of these creatures, so he made his way towards them as quickly as possible. Zeus jumped a little as he arrived, spinning a round with a “Jesus!”. 

Poseidon snorted a little. “As much on your toes as ever, I see.”

Zeus smacked him lightly. “Oh, shut up, you’re the one that snuck up.”

They started walking. “I didn’t sneak up,” Poseidon argued, “I just wasn’t about to yell at you two from 50 yards away when half of camp is probably asleep.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Zeus grumbled.

“What did Chrion wish to speak to you about?” Hades asked, keeping close by Poseidon’s side.

“Oh, he just said…” Poseidon trailed off a little, contemplating his next words. Saying the truth would make him seem egotistical...or they might just laugh at him. After all, it’s not like they outwardly say that they’re the better options, but it kinda just…goes without saying. Hades doesn’t get nearly the amount of respect Zeus does here, and he gets even less than Poseidon, but it’s not really a secret that some were attracted to that weird made-up side of him, where he’s some evil sexy bad boy. It kind of made Poseidon laugh. He didn’t think evil sexy bad boys went around dancing to “Time of My Life” with their little brothers, but regardless. People still thought of him like that, and wanted that hard-to-get type. Poseidon? Well...he was Poseidon. People like him...because he was Poseidon. And now that he’s not what people expected, there’s nothing left to like.

That being said, he also couldn’t really think of another excuse. And Chiron said that he’d talk to them too, so…

“Hello?” Zeus asked, waving a hand in front of his face. “You still there, big man?”

Poseidon snapped out of his little daze. “Oh right yes, um. He just told me that there are some people that um...are interested in me, but I shouldn’t, er, get intimate with them or anything.”

“And he just told you tha—?”

“Well damn right you shouldn’t,” Hades cut Zeus off.

Poseidon backtracked a little, turning to look up at him. “What is that supposed to mean?”

Hades looked surprised for a moment before rolling his eyes. “All these kids are way too young for you.”

“Oh,” Poseidon relaxed a little. He’d forgotten about that, “right. Yeah. Thankfully Chiron said that most of them are above 18 though, which is good.”

They fell into awkward silence for a moment, only their footsteps filling up the stillness of the air. They were almost to their cabins now.

“Why did he only want to speak to you?” Zeus asked, breaking it. “I mean, not to sound egotistical but I’m sure there are some campers interested in Hades and I.”

Poseidon shrugged. “I said the same thing. He just said that the people interested in me are planning on making moves faster or something.”

He could feel Zeus and Hades send each other a shrug above him. They walked in silence for the rest of the walk to their cabins, but it wasn’t awkward this time.

Zeus was the first to be reached, and Poseidon gave him a quick hug as a goodnight. Hades wished him a good sleep, and with a smile he disappeared into his cabin, shutting the door softly behind him. Once they heard the door lock, Poseidon and Hades walked over to Poseidon’s, two cabins down. 

The ground crunched beneath their feet, and crickets rang in the silence. A little bit of steam came from Poseidon’s mouth when he exhaled, but he wasn’t really cold. Hades’ presence beside him was comforting as he walked, but it wasn’t long before they reached his cabin and his presence would leave soon. Poseidon also gave him a hug, and Hades hugged him back, burying his face in his hair a little. Hades always had better hugs. 

“Goodnight,” he mumbled, holding Poseidon for a second longer than usual. 

“Goodnight,” Poseidon mumbled back, looking at him sleepily for a second. 

The smile Hades gave him then was full of warmth. “Sweet dreams.”

Poseidon stepped back into his cabin and started to close the door. “Sweet dreams.” He yawned just as he closed it and Hades gave him one last smile.

He locked the door and stumbled over to his bed sleepily, collapsing onto it. He kicked off his shoes and jeans, threw the covers over himself, and only saw the dark ceiling above him for a moment before he drifted off to sleep, dreaming of everything from warm hugs, chocolate and velvet to bananas dyed red by Lance McClain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so yeah!!! that was the first chapter and the second one shouldn't be too much longer :))
> 
> I'm going to try to be more frequent with my updates n stuff again so yee!!!
> 
> it's good to be back y'all :)))


	2. madam pomfrey except that's the wrong fandom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Short Idiot TM goes to the infirmary except its kinda peepeepoopoo

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so im gon be honest this isn't my fave chapter, but I really like the next one so! yee
> 
> btw: for confirmation, when I say that The Angry Idiot TM (Zeus) "might be thrown into the mix" I mean that in the relationship sense, not the 'this story' sense. he's still going to be a big part of this regardless of if it's going to be in a romantic way or not :)
> 
> also tw: implications of an eating disorder

“What’s up with you?” Poseidon asked, a little bit of eggs falling from his mouth. He tried to catch them, but they fell to the floor and disappeared under the table. He elected to ignore them, and instead looked back up to Hades.

The oldest of the three closely resembled those in his realm, with skin paler than usual, and dark circles so grey they looked black. His hair wasn’t done, and though it usually wasn’t the neatest thing in the world, it never quite resembled as much of a rats nest as it did then. His plate was still piled with food, only the toast having a few measly bites taken out of it.

“Nothing,” Hades mumbled, eyes drooping. “Just tired.”

“Why ‘ya tired?” Poseidon asked, taking another bite of his egg sandwich.

“I didn’t get enough sleep?” Hades looked up from his plate with an eyebrow raised.

Poseidon swallowed, then stole a hashbrown off Zeus’ plate. “Why didn’t you get enough sleep?” 

“Ugh.” Hades rolled his eyes, picking up a piece of bacon with a lazy hand and then dropping it again. “You sound like me.”

Poseidon smiled a little around his food. “That was my intention, yes.” He popped the hash brown in his mouth, even after Zeus’ light smack to his arm. “But seriously, what’s up? Or could you just not get to sleep?”

“Couldn’t get to sleep .”

“Okay,” Poseidon relented. Half of it was a joke, but the other half was genuine. After the whole Chaos thing, no one really knew what was going on. Afterall, two wars was enough, but stopping a potential third war that would’ve probably ended all of humanity wasn’t exactly Poseidon’s idea of a “relaxing vacation from godhood”.

“Nico not hungry?” Zeus asked, taking a sip from his coffee. “That boy looks like a stick, you shouldn’t even let him skip meals.”

Poseidon knew he didn’t really mean the last part, he just didn’t want to make it seem like he cared. It wasn’t a secret that he hadn’t completely let go of his pride, even if he knew Poseidon and Hades wouldn’t care.

“Nah,” Hades said, “he says he can’t eat in the mornings. He only comes if he wakes up extra early. Same with Hazel. And he’s my kid, I’ll have you know.”

“Um, sorry to interrupt.”

Poseidon looked up at the newcomer with surprise. She had honey blonde hair and blue eyes, with chubby cheeks and an awkward half-smile on her face. She was standing beside the table, eyes darting awkwardly around the three of them. “I’m an Apollo kid and, uh,” she coughed, “Chiron told me that one of you wants to help out in the infirmary?”

Poseidon dropped his fork unnecessarily. “Oh, that’s me.” He stood, pushing the bench back slightly with a quiet shriek. 

The girl smiled, face scrunching up a little like she was cringing. Poseidon’s cheeks burned.

“Right,” she said, “um, just follow me then please.”

Poseidon looked briefly at his brothers for a moment before nodding awkwardly. “Right.”

He could hear Zeus snickering as he walked away and he flipped him the bird over his shoulder. His snickering just grew to laughter.

The girl marched a little ahead of him, and Poseidon watched her blonde ponytail swing back and forth somewhat absently. She was a little chubby, but she was also really short so Poseidon figured that was probably a good thing. She looked about 14, maybe 13. Poseidon always found it funny when girls’ ponytails did that, it was like a horses tail or something. Not in a mean way. 

Poseidon dragged his eyes away from the hair and to his surroundings. He knew where the infirmary was, but he was still grateful for the escort. They were drawing a few weird looks from loitering campers, and the girl got visibly more tense and tense. Poseidon wanted to comfort her, but at the same time he really didn’t. So, he just let himself fall back a few more steps so it didn’t seem like they were walking together as much, and continued to glance awkwardly around camp.

He was grateful when they reached the infirmary to say the least. It was a fairly tall wooden building, with a small porch leading up to the entrance. Windows took up most of the entrance area, and lined the walls along the sides of the building as well. Small lanterns decorated the porch with small red crosses on them, but they weren’t lit up. It felt very much like an average mortal walk-in clinic, just more cabin-y with twice as much grass and woods behind it. And with a lot more life-threatening injuries.

The girl stepped onto the porch and turned to half-face him, leaving him awkwardly lingering on the first step. “This is where the non-infirmary kids enter, we enter through the back.” She hesitated for a moment, looking very much uncomfortable, before starting to walk again. Poseidon followed. “Of course, if someone is in grave danger, you can come in through those doors, but we prefer you to enter back here.” Poseidon nodded, trying to ignore the awkwardness enough so that he could listen attentively. He had a feeling that some of this stuff wasn’t shit he wanted to forget.

They entered a corridor type thing, except one wall was the infirmary and the other was just woods blocked by a railing. It was cooler down here, the wood beneath them more damp and shaded. Some parts of the walkway were in light, but most were shaded by leaves. There were windows along the infirmary side, but Poseidon assumed they were one-way because he couldn’t see inside them.

“This is officially called ‘The Entrance For Medical Staff’ or the “EFMS” but we just call it ‘the walkway’, sometimes just ‘the walk’. If anyone other than an Apollo kis tries to enter, these trees—” she pointed to the close branches and leaves beside them, “—will start hitting you. It’s technically possible for them to get in, but it’s so loud that we’ll be alerted. The only reason you can get in is because I’m with you.”

Poseidon scrunched his eyebrows down. “Wait—so will I ever be able to enter here alone?”

“Unfortunately no,” she answered. There was still an uncomfortable twinge to her voice, like she wanted nothing more than for this whole ordeal to end. “You’ll either have me as your escort, or any other Apollo kid of your choosing.” Poseidon could tell by her tone that she wanted him to pick the latter. He tried to reason with himself that she was a young girl that might be intimidated by him, but in the end he knew that, well, she just didn’t want to be seen with him.  _ That’s fine. You wouldn’t want to be seen with yourself either.  _ Poseidon rolled his eyes.  _ Okay, edgelord. _

He wasn’t sure where he learned what an edgelord was, but he had a feeling Percy was involved.

They were left in awkward silence for the rest of the walk, and Poseidon let out a little breath when they turned the corner to the back. Back here, it was completely silent except for birds chirping and the light breeze brushing the leaves. Though it wasn’t loud before, the echo of campers starting to tend to their daily activities still rang through the air. Now, it was nothing but nature and their own footsteps. The sun warmed his face here, where the trees were farther away and could not shade him. 

“The door’s here,” the girl said, stopping about midway down the walkway and getting out a keychain. “We have an extra key for you, but it shouldn’t be necessary so long as you have your escort with you.”

Poseidon nodded, and looked around one last time at the lush green leaves and bushes around them, before she shoved the door open and he followed her inside. 

It was dark in the—nevermind. She flicked on the lightswitch, and suddenly the room was bathed in light, revealing shelves upon shelves of medical kits, rolls of bandages, hundreds of small glass vials, and even more plastic white ones. About four bookshelves were placed around the room, equally as full of stuff as the floor-to-ceiling walls covered in shelves. Poseidon gaped a little, suddenly feeling the need to touch his ankles and wrists together so he didn’t knock anything over. The whole place smelled like a pharmacy, if that made sense. It also had a slight smell of earth and vinegar, as well as somehow like a Value Village. It wasn’t a large room, but it held the amount of stuff that a room half the size of a football field could. Plants were hung on every top corner, their vines overgrown and hanging down. It made Poseidon cringe a little when they brushed up against an important-looking thing.

“This is the equipment and supply room, but we just call it the supply room or the sup room. You’re allowed back here at any time, however try not to knock anything over.” She walked between two bookshelves to a wooden door at the back of the room. “This is where we actually treat patients.” She opened the door and walked through it, and Poseidon rushed (as carefully as possible) to follow after her. 

The next room was larger, but not as big as Poseidon had expected it to be. Bright light spilled in through the windows, letting enough light in without the need to turn on the fluorescent ones above. It was slightly wider, but mostly longer, just a straight, flat room from this door to a glass one at the end that lead to the front porch. About 14 beds total filled the room, with seven on each side. Each one was equipped with a bedside table and lamp, as well as those weird pole things with bags on them. Poseidon figured he’d have to learn the names of them eventually, but he didn’t stress himself at the moment. There was also another door to the right of Poseidon, where the wall was slanted and small windows could be looked through to see half of a desk and some picture frames. He assumed it was an office or something.

His eyes were immediately drawn to two beds in particular, one at the top right closest to the entrance, and one about mid-way down the left side. The one on the top right was a young-ish looking girl, her arms bone thin and her hair spilled like black ink across her pillow. She was so pale she looked like the pillow and sheets beneath her, if not a little more grey. Her chest was rising and falling steadily, if a little shallowly. 

The one on the left was occupied by a sixteen-ish looking boy, with dark skin and short curly hair. He looked a lot healthier than the other girl, if not also a little grey toned.

Most importantly, two other figures were in the room, one bending over a bedside drawer and the other opening a curtain near the front. They were both blonde, tall, and tanned, but somehow managed to look entirely different. Poseidon recognized one, and was about to open his mouth before his escort cleared her throat. The two boys looked up in surprise, and then both broke out into a smile.

“Clara, Poseidon!” Will Solace greeted, smiling brightly. The sun behind him made his hair seem lighter and his tan seem darker. “It’s nice to see you here.” He placed down a roll of medical bandages on the cabinet he was searching through, then fully turned towards them. “Did you enjoy your breakfast?”

“Yeah!” Clara said brightly. Poseidon looked down at her in surprise. “I had that cereal I like.”

Will half-tutted. “That’s full of sugar, you should stop having that every morning.” Clara only shrugged, and Will gave a fond scrunch of the nose before turning his attention to Poseidon. “And what about you?”

“It was alright,” Poseidon responded, shoving his hands in his pockets. He was suddenly uncomfortable. 

Will looked like he was about to respond, before the other guy in the room cut him off. “Is this the guy that’s going to be helping us out?”

Poseidon turned to look at him, only to find him already staring. He instinctively looked away, and then remembered he was supposed to be a god and looked back again. He looked familiar, but Poseidon couldn’t quite put a finger on how. He resembled Apollo a lot more than Will did, and basically more than Apollo did too. The only difference Poseidon could really spot was the nose, it was just a little smaller than Apollo’s. He kind of looked like one of those surfer dudes from California, except he was a little too put together to really complete the look.

“Uh, yeah.” The words fumbled out of Poseidon’s mouth. “That’s me. My name’s Poseidon.”

The boy looked a little amused, and Will’s smile turned entertained. “Yes, I’m aware. I’m John, I’m new to camp too.”

“Oh!” A light flicked on over Poseidon’s head. That’s where he recognized him from. “You’re the guy that apologized to me that one time.”

John smiled and gave a light laugh. “Yeah.” An awkward pause. “My girlfriend wanted to apologize to you too, but she didn’t have the confidence. Her name’s Carly, she’s an Athena kid. So...yeah, she’s sorry, I guess. For treating you bad at first.”

Poseidon nodded, embarrassed now. “Cool.”

More awkward silence. “Well!” Will looked like he was about to clap his hands together but stopped mid-way, instead shoving them in his pockets. “Why don’t we start with you learning the opening procedure? We're obviously open 24 hours, but our real shift starts at 8 and ends at 5. You’re allowed breaks obviously, and you get days off. Speaking of which—” he jangled the keys around his neck, “—this is my day off, I just wanted to be here to greet you. John’s going to take you through the basics and all that, meanwhile I’ll be with Nico if you need me. Clara here will come in and out, she’s our little semi-psychologist, mostly here for Emma over there.” He ruffled Clara’s hair and then pointed to the girl near the front.

Poseidon glanced at the girl at the front for a moment, and then brought his attention back to Will. “Oh...okay.” He tried not to let his disappointment leak into his voice. He wanted to have at least one familiar face in the building. “Alright. Thank you, have fun.”

“I will.” He smiled a little. “Oh, and Lou might show up today and might not. We’ve been slow lately, but things will probably pick up again soon once we get back to normal. We’ve been a mess ever since we forgot to plan events and training.”

Poseidon nodded a little, resisting the urge to rub his neck. “Alright, thanks.” He didn’t really know what he was thanking him for, but he felt it was an appropriate thing to say.

Will nodded and gave a little wave before exiting through the door and into the supply room. A little bit of the brightness in the room left with him. Not metaphorically—like, the sun actually seemed to get dimmer. Poseidon thought that was pretty cool. But still, his eyes still lingered on the door after it shut, not wanting to accept the sudden weirdness in the air.

After a moment, Clara fled to the girl at the front (Emma?), and John cleared his throat. Poseidon forced himself to turn around, and gave a small, internally pained smile at the guy.

“So, Poseidon.” Poseidon could tell he was trying to be casual rather than actually being casual, but he appreciated it anyway. His voice sounded confident enough to pass, if anything. It was also loud. Very loud. “Unfortunately we’ve completed most of our morning routine before you arrived, but there’s still some stuff left.” He walked up to him and put a hand on his shoulder, almost making Poseidon jump. His hand was almost as big as Hades’, and that was saying a lot. It was warmer, though. 

He started walking, and Poseidon followed. He tried to focus on the dust particles floating around the room, instead of the very, very tall presence beside him. He’d forgotten that people being taller than Hades was an actual thing that was possible. Hades was enough, this dude was like a skyscraper. He made  _ Will  _ look short. He was somewhat ashamed to admit that he wished the girl, Clara, was still by his side, for the sole purpose of making him feel tall. That girl was tiny.

“Alright, so the first thing we do is check our overnight patients vitals if they’re hooked up or just check to see how they’re doing overall if they’re not,” John started. “As you can see, Emma over there is hooked up—” he pointed over to her, where a somewhat outdated heart rate monitor beeped, “—while Andre is just down with the flu and doesn’t need one. We keep patients with more severe issues on the right of where we come in, and patients with less pressing issues on the left. Usually the flu, just so the other residents of the cabin don’t also catch it. Um—” he crouched down and lowered his voice, making Poseidon whip his head to look at him, brows furrowed. He didn’t seem to notice his offence, “—Emma over there’s gonna be with us for a while. She’s been having some trouble with her eating, if you know what I mean.” He straightened.

Poseidon relaxed a little, a small frown forming as he looked over at her. He kind of assumed that, with how thin she was. At least she was getting help.

“Well anyway, we already did that, so the next thing we do is restock all of the bedside cabinets. Mostly just refill the bandages, medical tape, Advil, and polysporin if necessary. Then we open the curtains, and voila, we’re here.” He sat down on one of the empty beds, then looked up at Poseidon and smiled. Poseidon smiled back a little uncomfortably, standing a good few feet away. “Then we’re supposed to check to make sure nothing was stolen overnight in the supply room, which is where you come in.” He sprung himself off the bed again, and Poseidon pretended not to notice that there was no point of him sitting down on it. “There’s a list of everything in that room here—” he took a few long strides to the wall near the back again, making Poseidon speed walk to catch up, “—and all you have to do is check it off to make sure everything’s there.”

The list was attached to the back wall, except it was a notebook with about 60 sheets on it. Poseidon gaped, before John ripped off the first page and gave it to him. “There’s a little check-box next to everything, so all you have to do is make sure the right amount of stuff is there, and you’re good!”

Poseidon let out a little sigh. It was only a double-sided page, he could handle that.

Oh.

He looked at the paper more closely when it was in his hand. It was in size 9 Times New Roman, with four columns on each page. Next to each individual line, there was a little box where Poseidon assumed he had to put a checkmark. He almost passed out when he saw “50 bottles of—”.

This. This was not going to be fun.

“It’s not as bad as it seems, honest.”

Poseidon looked up from the list at the guy, who was looking at him a little sheepishly. He couldn’t really control the complete look of “are you kidding me?” that was no doubt plastered onto his face.

“Hey, c’mon. It’ll only take you an hour or so, and then we can just chill in here. A new patient might even come in, so you can see our procedure when that happens.”

Poseidon just continued to stare, not really knowing how to process the situation. This was  _ not  _ what he signed up for. He wouldn’t have minded it if the room didn’t hold  _ 60 000  _ things.

John just awkwardly stared back. “Um...yeah.”

Poseidon finally snapped out of it. “Can you...help me? Or something?”

“Um…” He glanced around awkwardly. “The space is too small for more than one person, especially when counting ‘cause you have to bend over and stuff...Everyone here had to do it when they started out too.” He gave a half-smile type thing. “You’ll do fine, it’s not as bad as it seems.”

Poseidon resisted the urge to sigh, and looked away. After a moment, he finally said: “Can I have a pen?”

“Of course!” He scrambled to the bedside cabinet to get one. He searched through the drawers for a moment, and came back with a pink glittery pen. “Here ya go.”

Poseidon looked at it for a second, then took it with an eyebrow raised. “Thanks.”

“‘Welcome. Uh…” He glanced around awkwardly again. “Good luck!”

He stepped forward to give him a pat on the shoulder, and Poseidon just stared at the middle of his chest. When he gets back in his godly form, all these hoes will see. 

Wow, Percy has influence.

John left to go do whatever he had to do, and Poseidon sighed to himself for a moment, before turning to the supply room and heading in. It was cooler in here than anywhere else, but not really cold. When the door shut behind him, it was eerily silent. Poseidon shivered. Alone, this place was kind of creepy. He looked around for a moment before taking out the list and looking at his first counting task. 45 packages of bandages. He sighed. This was going to be fun.

Quickly, he ran into a problem. By quickly he meant 2 counting tasks in, which consisted of 45 packages of bandages and 90 individual large square bandages. His third task was counting 25 bottles of tylenol, which just so happened to be on the top shelf and stacked in behind each other. 

He had completed the first two tasks in ten minutes, but it’s been five since then, of just him planning his next move. Either tell them he’s too short, or just pretend he counted them and move on. If he tells them it will be mortifying, but if he lies he could get kicked out...but then again if this is all he’s going to do maybe he wants to be kicked out...but what if he gets promoted and it’s fun...

After another few minutes, John made his decision for him. The door slammed open, nearly making Poseidon shit himself as he jumped. “Jesus Christ!” He stumbled backwards, and John let out a yelp before catching him. Poseidon looked behind him, heart about to crack through his ribs. He was about an inch away from one of the bookshelves, full of many little glass bottles full of liquid. 

“Jesus Christ, be careful!”

Poseidon whipped his head around to John, who was holding him by the shoulder and waist. He straightened, and shook the hands off of him. “ _ Me  _ be careful? You’re the one who scared the shit out of me!”

“You almost knocked a whole shelf over!” His eyes were wide and panicked, and Poseidon could tell he was still kind of in shock. “Do you know how much that costs?”

“I wouldn’t have almost knocked it over if you didn’t scare me!”

“Well—!” John paused, and sighed. “Fine, fine, whatever. You can do no wrong. I just came in here to—”

“What’s that supposed to mean?!” Poseidon asked angrily.

“What’s  _ what _ supposed to mean??”

“‘You can do no wrong’?” 

He half-glared at him. “Well you’re acting like it’s entirely my fault!”

“Because it  _ was! _ If you hadn’t slammed the door open, I wouldn’t have almost knocked it over!”

“Oh, Jesus.” He rolled his eyes.

“Am I  _ wrong? _ ” Poseidon asked, crossing his arms.

He sighed. “No, of course you’re not. Anyway, I just came in here to give you this ladder.” He reached behind the door and brought out a step stool. “Use it for the top shelves.”

He handed it to Poseidon, and then left as suddenly as he came. Poseidon was left in silence again, cheeks burning. Something about what he’d said made Poseidon feel like he thought of him as a three year old. 

Yet again, he sighed. This was not going to be fun.

Close to two hours later, he emerged from the supply room, eyes heavy and wrist tired. “Done.”

All four occupants of the room turned to look at him. Emma and Andre had apparently awoken, and looked at him with confusion in their eyes.

“Perfect.” Poseidon switched his attention to John, who was sitting on the bed next to Andre’s. “Give me the list, please.”

Poseidon walked over to him, trying to ignore the sets of eyes on him. He placed the list in John’s outstretched hand, and the boy looked over it for a moment before placing it down on the bedside table. “Thanks, Poseidon. There’s honestly not anything left to do, so you’re free to go if you’d like. If a new patient comes in, I’ll come get ya. Is that alright?”

Really? All he was going to do is count that and then leave? He didn’t know what he expected the infirmary to be like, but this wasn’t it. He felt a strong sense of disappointment; Zeus was out planning new competitions, and he assumed Hades was helping Chrion and Dionysus set up lessons like how it was before the war again, meanwhile he counted some shit and then left. He didn’t voice his thoughts aloud. “Alright.”

John gave him an odd smile, and Poseidon took that as his cue to leave. Somewhat awkwardly, he turned to exit the room.

“Oh, wait,” John called. Poseidon turned, eyebrows raised. “I’m your new escort.” He pushed himself off the bed. “I’ll help you leave.” He turned to Andre. “I’ll be back soon, buddy.” Andre nodded.

Poseidon raised an eyebrow, trying not to sound disappointed. “Like—forever?”

“Yeah.” John smiled, and Poseidon could tell it was fake.  _ Great. _

John walked past him and opened the door, and Poseidon followed him through the supply room and out to the walkway. They walked in silence, leaving Poseidon to his thoughts. He couldn’t really place a finger on  _ why  _ he didn’t like John, but he didn’t. At all. And maybe that was just from the little argument they had earlier, he didn’t know. He just gave him a bad...vibe. Like, it was nice that he apologized to him, but he was starting to think that that was because he didn’t want to get hurt when Poseidon got back in his godly form or something, y’know? He just felt weird.

When they reached the end of the walkway, John turned to him. “Alright, thanks for your help today. Again, if a new patient comes in, I’ll come get you so you can see the procedure. Have a good day.”

Poseidon could tell it wasn’t sincere. “Alright, yeah, thanks.”

John gave another fake smile, and then started back down the path again. Poseidon didn’t bother to watch him go, and made his way down the patio steps.

He looked around at Camp Half Blood. You could see most of it from here, but some parts were blocked by trees or the big house. The lake was still glittering in the sunlight, and he could see some campers playing volleyball. 

Well. 

Now what was he going to do?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so I know this chapter was OC heavy and I'm sorry about that! don't worry, this is still going to be mostly The Big Idiots TM, I just need to introduce a few characters starting off. the next chapter is pretty much solely canonically established characters (read: the big idiots tm). I know OC's are annoying, I just feel uncomfortable giving the roles these characters are going to play to canonical characters. you'll know what I mean eventually


	3. lonliness nd food. that's not how you spell loneliness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> hey guys!!!! this chapter is split into two parts and this is just the first half, so it ends kind of abruptly but thas ok. It just got too long, and I don't want the length of my chapters to be too irregular so yee!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, I decided to change it so there's just a "big three" table in the dining pavilion, hope you don't mind :)
> 
> BTW, there shouldn't be too many mistakes, but I can't edit this the second time like I usually do because it's my bedtime nd my dad takes my computer so yee. that made me sound like I'm eight but whatever. to some of y'all I practically am so iss fine.  
> anyway it's probably going to be a snow day tomorrow (yay!!!/knock on wood) so it should be edited better soon. if it's not, it probably will be by 12 tomorrow cuz I work on this at lunch so yee. idk what time that is for y'all so thats kind of pointless but whatever

He ended up back at the lake. 

Picking at his sneakers, specifically. They were still the converse Hera had put him in when she turned them into teenagers, but they were significantly more beat up now. After passing through an ocean, getting hit with a tsunami, climbing a mountain, and many snowball fights, they weren’t exactly at their prime. They used to be a navy blue colour, but now they were some sort of ugly grey, with the soles peeling off and the laces brown. He picked at the patch on the side, where some of it was already fraying. While doing so, he tried to make himself as small as possible so no one would notice him, specifically notice that he was all by himself.

Some kids sat a little bit away from him on the beach, but he pretended he couldn’t see them. He didn’t know where Zeus and Hades were, but he assumed they were still planning stuff, Zeus with the Athena and Ares cabin and Hades with Chiron and Dionysus.

It was kind of nice, being alone. Peaceful and quiet and all that jazz. But when you’re surrounded by teenagers, being alone is one of the most embarrassing things in the world. So Poseidon just kind of sat there, just like he’d been sitting there for the past hour or so, picking at his shoes. At least when Zeus and Hades were there, he could have conversations and stuff, but now he had nothing to do. He didn’t like reading or drawing, and it’s not like the Athena cabin would spare him a book or piece of paper anyway. The whole reason Hades was with Chiron and Dionysus was because they needed to re-establish the lessons, so he couldn’t take those if he wanted to. So he just sat there, bored.

He thought there was a difference between choosing to be alone and being alone. When you choose to be alone, it’s freeing and less stressful, like when you’re in your room after a long day of work. But when it’s just you because you don’t have anyone, it’s different. It’s like you’re the last person on earth, even though millions surround you, if that makes sense. Like you’re the last wooly mammoth in the ice age, when millions of other species are still thriving.

He eventually relented at the picking of his shoes, and rested his head against the tree he was leaning against. The breeze was warm, and it tickled his cheeks and blew his hair around lightly. The air was fresher by the lake, though it was fresh everywhere else, too. The grass around him blew lightly, but the sand by his feet remained still. The little grains heated the bottom of his shoes, and he wanted to take them off but just didn’t bring his arms around to do it.

Part of him wanted to go back to the infirmary to talk to the patients, but then again he didn’t really like John or Clara very much. He wished Will was there, but he also wanted him to enjoy his day with Nico. He didn’t know the infirmary was shift work, he just thought if a new patient came in they healed them and then boom, they were gone. Apparently not.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a flash of red hair. He snapped his head around, and nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw Riley whatever-her-last-name-was, that bitch from the campfire his first night, chatting with her tag along and a few other abnormally attractive teens. They didn’t look very menacing, talking and laughing and bumping into each other, but Poseidon knew better. They were demons.

Now, from an outside point of view, many people would assume that what was about to go down would be reversed. That the teeangers would see the mighty Poseidon and turn around so they didn’t bother him as he seemed to brood by the lake. They would be intimidated by him, and quickly change their course in fear they would anger him.

Now that...that was simply not the case.

Poseidon shot up out of his spot by the lake faster than you could say “coward” and not-so-subtly speed walked his ass right out of there. Dealing with that bitch when you could just leave? No sir, not today. Now listen: there was a difference between Poseidon and Poseidon in this form. Because if he was still a god, then he would take his inherited power and use it to put them in their place. But as of right now, he didn’t  _ have  _ that inherited power. He was a little-bit-below 5’9 skinny ass teenager that couldn’t even do a push up. So all him saying “fuck off” would do is make them laugh at him and mock him more. So, he was gladly the one to fuck off himself. If immortality had taught him anything, it’s don’t bring a knife to a gun fight. And as of right now, he was the knife and everyone else was the gun.

So he walked as fast as he could away from the beach, trying to pray before realizing he had no one to pray to. So, he just hoped that they wouldn’t notice him.

Well, turns out he should find someone to pray to, because hoping didn’t work.

“Are you scared?” Was called out after him, loud enough for him to hear clearly from 20 yards away.

He suddenly felt a shit ton of eyes on him, not only from Riley’s little group but the campers that had already been by the beach and the few stragglers in the general area. His cheeks burned. Laughter erupted from the group, and a he heard a few snickers from people he passed. He continued walking, not really knowing where he was going, just anywhere but here.

He ended up at the volleyball courts somewhat close to the big house. A few campers were playing, but overall it wasn’t too busy, so he sat down under a tree close by. He felt kind of awkward watching the game, so he tilted himself a little away. He also tried to shield himself from the big house, just in case Hades decided to take a peek out the window. He didn’t want that kind of embarrassment.

He went back to picking at his shoes.

***Time Break***

By the time dinner rolled around, Poseidon was ready to drown himself. He had experienced boredom before, but never quite to the extent that he had that day. The hours just dragged on and on, just sitting in the grass and staring. Yes, he could’ve asked to join the volleyball game. Yes, he could’ve found Will and Nico. Yes, he could’ve found Frank and Hazel. Yes, he could’ve branched out and tried to make some friends. But was he going to do any of those things? No. No he wasn’t. Because he was shit at volleyball, Will and Nico were doing gods know what, Frank and Hazel aren’t close enough with him so he’d make it awkward, and making friends? No thanks. As far as he could tell, everyone here was an asshole other than his nephews, nieces, Will, Annabeth, and Frank. Like—absolute assholes. Like, he didn’t think teenagers were capable of being such assholes.

But finally, finally, it was dinner. He walked to the big three table, legs aching from sitting all day. He collapsed onto the bench, where Hazel and Nico were already seated.

“Hi, Poseidon!” Hazel greeted cheerfully, holding some type of noodles between two chopsticks. 

“Hello, Hazel,” Poseidon smiled at her, then turned to Nico. “Hello, Nico.”

Nico returned it with a grunt, but a kind one. He had some type of cheeseburger on his plate, along with a mountain of fries. Poseidon didn’t think he’d ever seen Nico eat, let alone that much, but he didn’t mention it. Instead, he turned his attention to the rather empty table. “Are Zeus and Hades coming?”

“Dunno,” Nico replied, biting into a crispy looking french fry. “I don’t see why not. They might just not be here yet.”

Poseidon nodded, and looked around. While he was looking, he heard Hazel address Nico. “You’re not supposed to eat yet, we still have to sacrifice.”

“Oh, yeah, yeah. I think I’ve done enough for the gods already.” 

Poseidon saw nothing, so just turned back to his plate. “Um...spaghetti.” The noodles appeared on his plate in an instant. He looked up at his two companions. “You want to sacrifice now or wait for them?”

“Let’s sacrifice now, I’m hungry.”

Poseidon shrugged. “Alright.”

The three of them rose out of their benches and followed the crowd out to the fire. Nico picked at his fries a little, and Poseidon pretended not to notice, lips curling up into a little smile.

Yet again, Poseidon didn’t have anyone to sacrifice for, and felt a little remorse for the wasted spaghetti. The flames licked up the food, and grew higher with every sacrifice. It smelled amazing, but also strange with the amount of  _ different  _ scents coming from it. Strawberries, ribs, parmesan cheese…weird. The heat radiating from it was only overbearing while you were sacrificing; standing in line it just felt like a warm breeze. After Nico and Hazel dumped a little bit of their food in the fire, the three headed back to their table. 

When they got there, they were greeted with Zeus, but not Hades. He was just getting out of his seat with a plate full of fish and moussaka. Poseidon raised an eyebrow. “Hey,” he greeted. Zeus turned his gaze towards him, “have you seen Hades?”

Zeus shook his head, walking up to pass them. “I was just about to ask you the same thing.”

Poseidon frowned, but nonetheless let Zeus pass with no further questions. He sat down at their table, and Nico immediately took a huge bite out of his burger as soon as he sat down. Hazel nudged him lightly, while Poseidon continued to look around. Where was he? Was he not feeling well? A little guilt churned in his stomach. If it were him that was late for dinner, Hades would’ve been out searching for him like it had just been announced he was kidnapped. But here he was, sitting his ass down in front of some food that he probably wasn’t even going to finish. His lips tugged down, eyes still drifting across all of the camp he could see, focusing mostly on the area near the big house. Maybe he could see a shadow in the window or something…

“He’s probably just stuck up debating with Chiron,” Nico said. Poseidon turned to him. “Once he starts discussing something, he can’t stop. I would know.”

Poseidon nodded, and finally just turned to his spaghetti. Well, might as well not waste any more. He stuck his fork into the pasta, and started spinning it around. 

“I’m glad he’s the one planning lessons,” Hazel said, wiping some broth off of her chin. “He’s unbiased. All the Athena kids want are educational lessons, the Ares kids just want fighting, and the Apollo kids just want archery.”

“Ugh,” Nico grunted. He dipped some fries in so much ketchup it was more like he was having ketchup with some fries on the side. “I hate archery. I think I’ll just dip if they include that again.”

“No you won’t,” Hazel said. “That’s illegal.”

Nico snorted. Poseidon hummed, shoving some noodles into his mouth. Zeus came back, and sat down next to Poseidon with a light thud. “Any more news on Hades?” he asked, stabbing his fork into some moussaka.

Poseidon shook his head, then swallowed. It was a little too early to swallow so it kind of hurt on the way down, but he ignored that. “N—” he coughed, “No.” He coughed again, finally choking the noodles down. “We think he’s still up with Chiron.” He blinked some water out of his eyes.

Zeus nodded, patting him on the back a little as if it would help. “Probably arguing with him over something.”

Nico smiled a little to himself before shoving more fries in his mouth. Poseidon spun some more spaghetti around on his fork, and tried desperately to stop himself from looking around again. He didn’t really know why he was so worried, it’s just that Hades never skipped meals, at least not without telling him first. The only thing keeping him sane was the fact that Chiron wasn’t there either, which meant it was very plausible for them to just be having a discussion in the big house. He tried to not let it bother him, but as the clock ticked on and the sun sank lower and lower, he was starting to get more and more worried.

Just as he was about to snap, he felt a familiar hand on his shoulder. He jumped, whipping around to look at the presence behind him. It was Hades, smiling down at him with one hand on each of his brothers’ shoulders. 

Poseidon nearly collapsed in relief. “Hades! Where have you been?”

“Sorry, sorry,” he said, sitting on Poseidon’s other side. His eyes were unusually bright. “I got caught up talking with Chiron. We’ve come up with some great ideas for lessons. I guess one of his main duties right now is planning lessons, I thought it was going to be more council-type stuff but I’m not complaining.”

“Yeah,” Zeus piped up, “I thought I was the one that was going to be planning lessons, but I just spent all day coming up with ideas for competitions. I’m not complaining either, these kids are awesome. Talking about jousting and races and stuff like that. I might just stay mortal so I can compete in some of these things.”

“You didn’t know you were gonna plan lessons?” Hazel asked, tilting her head to the side. “I thought that that’s pretty much all Chiron’s doing right now.”

“Yeah,” Hades agreed. His voice was more buoyant than usual, “apparently it is, I just didn’t know that.” He looked down at his plate. “Um...fettuccini alfredo and breadsticks, please.” It appeared on his plate, and he looked back up to the rest of his company. “Do I have to sacrifice?”

“Nah,” Zeus said. “We don’t sacrifice to anyone anyway. It just looks weird if we stay at our table while everyone else goes up, and it would look weird for you to go up now. Just stay.”

Hades nodded, and stabbed his fork into his noodles. “We’re thinking of adding basic math as a course too, since some demigods are able to exist in the mortal world. It’ll be optional to start out, but we might end up pushing it more.”

“Oh, please don’t push it more.” Nico rolled his eyes. “Math is about as fun as shoving a stick up your ass.”

“Watch your language,” Hades reminded him casually. “And I know, but it’ll benefit a lot of campers. English we’re still iffy about because of the amount of dyslexic campers, but we might teach the basics of it translated to ancient Greek. So the curriculum is the same, it’s just all in Greek instead of English.”

“That sounds kinda cool,” Hazel agreed. “We have enough books in Greek here, might as well make it mandatory to read them.”

“That’s what we were thinking, yeah.” Hades smiled at his daughter. Well—kind of daughter. “Well, anyway —” he looked to Zeus and Poseidon, “—how were your activities?”

“Awesome,” Zeus started, stabbing his fork into some fish. “The Ares kids are wild, came up with some pretty out-there ideas. The Athena kids’ were more realistic and manageable, though. I’m kind of like the tie-breaker. I’ll listen to both sides and see which ones are the best fit. I’d like to say I’m going to go in unbiased, but when the time comes to make a final decision, I’m probably gonna go for jousting. Who knew we were going to bring that back?” He stuck the fish in his mouth.

Hades hummed. “You always did like watching that. Never thought you’d be one to compete, though.”

Zeus shrugged. “Apparently competitions take a lot of thought and planning, so I might be a god again by the time competition rolls around anyway. Especially since we might include Camp Jupiter too. We’ll see though. I’m going to try to move it along quicker, because I truly would like to try it out.”

“No one would touch you anyway,” Nico said, a trace of amusement colouring his voice as he took a sip of cola. “They’d be too scared that you’ll still be mad once you’re a god again.”

For a brief moment, Poseidon was scared Zeus would get mad over the proclamation, be he just shrugged. “Fair point. I’d like to see it unbiased, but I don’t know if that’s going to happen.”

Hades hummed, and flicked his attention solely to Poseidon. “And what about you, Poseidon? How was the infirmary?”

Poseidon choked a little on the spaghetti he’d been eating. He coughed for a few moments, and when he was finally okay again, his cheeks were burning lightly. 

“Are you okay?” Hazel asked, head falling to a tilt again.

“Yep,” Poseidon answered, voice a little hoarse. He cleared his throat once more and turned to Hades (somewhat). “Um...it was...good.” Well that was a lie.

“Well that’s good,” Hades responded, taking a bite of a bread stick. “What did you do?”

Well fuck. “Um…” He didn’t really know why, but he was embarrassed about his experience at the infirmary. He knew that his brothers would probably be equally as confused/disappointed about it as he was, but the idea of telling them the truth after they had just described how amazing their day was was mortifying. “I...helped...cure a patient.”

Zeus hummed curiously. “That’s cool. How’d you do it? Like were you just there to assist or did you actually do it?”

_ Think on the spot here, buddy. Saying you did all the work is unrealistic, and it’s your first day so they wouldn’t judge you for not doing all the work. So...you helped? Yes! You helped. Wow, you’re a genius.  _ “I mostly just helped,” he said. “Like handing him the supplies he needed and stuff like that. He taught me how to do it as he went along.”

Hades hummed as well. “That’s pretty cool. Who’s ‘he’?”

“What?” Poseidon asked, looking up from his spaghetti.

“You kept saying ‘he’. Is ‘he’ Will or?”

“Oh,” Poseidon said, turning back to his plate. He moved some parmesan out of the way. That stuff was nasty. “No. Will had the day off today. It was just another Apollo kid. John, I think.” He knew, but it felt more casual to add the ‘I think’ on the end.

“Oh, cool,” Hades said genuinely, and then turned to Nico and Hazel. Poseidon was relieved. “Nico, Hazel, what did you do today?”

A faint blush dusted Nico’s cheeks, while Hazel smiled. “Frank and I helped Leo in his workshop. He’s working on this cool crossbow thing. Frank and I didn’t really understand the design part of it, but we still helped him make it. It’s almost done.”

Hades smiled. “That’s nice. Is it for him or for general use?”  
“I actually don’t know,” Hazel said curiously. “He didn’t say. I don’t think he’s really a crossbow kind of guy, so maybe just for general use.” She shrugged, and slurped some more noodles.

Hades hummed again, and then turned to Nico. One of his eyebrows raised, and Poseidon tried to hide a smile. They both knew what that blush meant. “And you, Nico?”

Nico coughed a little, shoving some more fries in his mouth. Poseidon pretended not to pay attention, putting extra time into twirling his noodles. When the son of Hades finally couldn’t put it off any longer, he cleared his throat. “I, um—” he coughed again, “—hung out with Will mostly.”  
“Hm,” Hades said. Poseidon saw some amusement in his eyes, but his features were morphed to just look curious. “And what did you do?”

Nico was looking anywhere but at them. Poseidon tried not to snicker, but when he caught eyes with Zeus he almost lost it. Almost. “We um...hung out at the lake mostly.”

Poseidon let out a little snort at that, and tried to cover up with a cough. He was pretty sure they did  _ not _ hang out at the lake, unless they could both turn invisible. He didn’t say anything, though. Not just because it would prove he wasn’t at the infirmary, but he also liked Nico quite a bit, and he knew how embarrassment felt. At the back of his mind, he noted that the rules of the no lgbtq+ boys or girls in a cabin alone must’ve not been too enforced. Or maybe they weren’t in a cabin...he shuddered. He liked both Nico and Will, but  _ that  _ was not something he wanted to see.

“Interesting,” was all Hades said. Hazel’s skin was too dark to really notice a blush, but Poseidon could tell she was embarrassed.

They ate the rest of their dinner normally, with no further implications of Nico’s activities that day. Hazel talked more about Leo’s crossbow, while Hades went into further detail about the potential lessons. Poseidon avoided bringing up the infirmary as much as he could, but he did have to lie a little more after Nico asked him about the patients. “Will wanted to know,” he’d said as an explanation. Poseidon had to correct himself and say that the patient he helped was Andre instead of a new one, because he didn’t want Will to ask John or Clara about an the “new” patient that had come in today. He hoped either Nico wouldn’t tell Will a whole lot, or Will wouldn’t ask John and Clara about too much. He didn’t need that kind of confrontation, at least not so early into his ‘career’ at the infirmary.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah!!! The second part of this is almost done, so it should be up within the next two days or so :)  
> Sorry for the delay, I spent too much time writing the second half of this lol  
> Thanks for reading!!!! :D


	4. lonliness nd food. that's not how you spell loneliness part two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ummmm...food babies, campfires, and angst

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys!!!! It's my birthday!!! :DDD  
> tbh its really kinda sucked. Like really really sucked. A lot. But near the end it was okay. I hate school and I hate my classmates and I hate some of my teachers but y'know what I do like??? my mum and I talked to her so it got better. I also like my dad and I talked to him too and it got better even more so  
> so yee. 14 y'all. isn't Nico di Angelo 14?? oh wait no he's like 80 rip  
> also exactly a year ago I uploaded chapter 23 of really? right in front of my salad!!!!!!!! that was the really angsty hades chapter where he almost yeeted himself of a cliff rip  
> oops making jokes about depression sorry idk how to talk about serious things  
> anyways enjoy this!!!! I edited this the first time while crying and edited it the second time at 11 pm so sorry for any mistakes. edit: it's now 12 AM and February 15th so it's not really my birthday anymore so now I'm even sadder. I want a hug

By the end of dinner, most of Poseidon’s spaghetti was gone, and he was pretty sure he had a small food baby growing inside him. His stomach bulged out, and where his jeans hit his skin hurt like a bitch. He clutched his stomach, groaning a little as the rest of the occupants of the table stood. Oh, to be Percy and have a bottomless pit as a stomach.

Zeus snickered a little. “You good?”

“I think I’m gonna give birth,” Poseidon half-groaned, half-wheezed. Zeus and Hazel laughed.

Hades put a hand on his shoulder, looking more concerned than he should’ve been. “Are you going to be sick?”

Poseidon paused for a moment, before forcing himself off the bench. “Nah, I’m good.” He held onto Hades arm to step across the bench. It was cool under his palm.

“Alright.” Hadse didn’t let him when he went to remove his arm, and instead wrapped his own arm around Poseidon’s shoulders. Poseidon didn’t protest, and just moved closer so it was more comfortable. No one else seemed to notice, and the five of them made their way down to the campfire with the rest of camp. The sun had almost completely sank now, the sky mostly a dark navy blue. A sliver of orange and red painted the horizon, but most of the light came from the campfire and the stars above them. The fire was already burning high, it’s hue a bright pinky-orange colour. Apparently the colour of the fire correlated to the campers’ moods, but Poseidon had yet to figure out what colours meant what.

Thankfully, they reached their seats without any disruption. It still gave Poseidon a little anxiety whenever they walked to the campfire, thinking of that night when Riley came up to him. It had been beyond embarrassing, to the point where Poseidon’s brain has began trying to block it out. He didn’t think anyone was actually like that, that anyone went so far as to publicly embarrass people. Even Zeus wasn’t like that: he was rude and arrogant at times, but he didn’t embarrass people. At least not on purpose. He had watched Mean Girls once with Sally, but he thought that was the extent of, well, mean girls: over-exaggerated movies. Given, Riley hadn’t done anything like that since, but still. It made him cringe looking back. Getting owned by a fifteen/sixteen year old girl in front of not only his son and brothers, but the entire Athena cabin who already hated his guts was mortifying.

Hazel and Nico split from them as usual, Nico over to where Will was sitting and Hazel over to Frank. Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades walked up to the top of the bleachers, where they were mostly shielded by the big, buff Ares kids. Well, at least Poseidon and some of Zeus were. Hades was out of luck. At least no one really  _ bothered  _ Hades, they just sent glares or occasionally cowered in fear. Poseidon hoped that would end soon, it was embarrassing to look at. Not just for Hades, but for the campers too. He wasn’t a god anymore, what was he going to do? Honestly.

The Apollo kids were still setting up as they sat down, so Poseidon just looked around. Nico and Will were sitting close, their hands touching but not intertwined. They didn’t seem like the type of couple that would be too into PDA, anyway. Regardless, some Aphrodite girls were pointing at them and giggling. Poseidon supposed that was better than homophobia, but he was already annoyed by it and he wasn’t even Nico or Will. Hazel was curled up into Frank’s side, but the couple wasn’t really noticeable unless you looked for them. He scanned his eyes around some more, looking for anyone else. Clarisse was a few rows down from him...Oh, there’s Annabeth. She was sitting near the end of where most of the Athena cabin sat, looking deep in conversation with Piper and Leo. She looked a lot like her mom in the firelight, and Poseidon shuddered, looking away. He didn’t want to deal with  _ her _ any time soon. 

Instead, he glanced in the direction of the Hermes cabin. 

He jumped. 

Two sets of eyes were already looking at him, belonging to two girls. He looked behind him, just to make sure they weren’t looking at anyone else, then looked back with his eyebrows raised. One of them was blushing and looking around awkwardly, while the other kept shifting her gaze between Poseidon and Zeus confidently.

Well. Poseidon was never going to look at a woman ever again.

His skin crawled uncomfortably, and he suddenly felt like he was prey being stalked by a predator. Usually, he liked the attention from women, but this girl was weird. He’d never had a woman so shamelessly check him out before, let alone also shamelessly check out his little brother at the same time. He supposed this might be how women feel most of the time, and felt a little guilt. He thought he was just being nice. Apparently not. This shit was creepy.

He tried to look away, but his curiosity kept getting the best of him and he kept looking over to see if she was still looking at him. She was every time. One time, they made eye contact, and she smiled. Which was fine. Then she gave a little glance down and then back up again.

_ Okay, nope. Noooo. Definitely not. Not today, satan. Holy shit. No. Just no. Please say you’re at least above 18. Please. I am begging. Stop. Even if you are. No. Noooo. Nope. _

He felt himself blushing, eyes widening as he looked away. Well. Yep. Y’know what? He might as well just be gay from now on. That sounds great. Let’s do that.

Hades looked at him, one of his eyebrows raised. “What’s up?”

Poseidon looked at him, face still burning. “What? Oh, nothing.”

“That girl over there is looking at him,” Zeus said, sticking a marshmallow on a pole thing. Poseidon couldn’t remember when he got that.

He blushed further. “She’s looking at you, too.”

Zeus shrugged. “Yeah, but I’m not bothered by it. She’s not my type, anyway. Too chubby.”

Poseidon rolled his eyes. “Oh yeah, Mr. ‘I only date supermodels and actresses’.”

Zeus put his hands up in mock surrender. “Hey, if I can get ‘em, why not?” Poseidon and Hades rolled their eyes. Zeus just stuck his marshmallow over a few people so the fire could toast it. “Besides, why are you so blushy? I thought you’d be used to this stuff by now.”

“Well, I’m used to girls looking at me, but not...looking at me like  _ that _ .”

Zeus raised an eyebrow at him. “So then how come you have so many children?”

  
Poseidon rolled his eyes. “No, they look at me like they’re interested, they’re just not so…” he flourished a hand, “—forward.”

“Ah,” Zeus said, taking the marshmallow back once it was golden brown. “She gave you a once over type thing?”

“Yeah,” Poseidon mumbled. Saying it out loud, it sounded kind of dumb. Afterall, he’d gone through millennia of picking up different women, why was he so bothered by this one?

“She shouldn’t be doing that,” Hades said, rolling his eyes. “I’ll get Chiron to kick her out if she tries anything. You’re not here to be ogled at.”

Zeus’s eyes blew out wide and he shook his head, mocking. “Okay, Mr. Protective. This is the first time he’s been looked at, give the man a break. He probably hasn’t had sex in years.”

_ “Excuse me?” _ Poseidon asked, whipping his head around to look at his younger brother.

Zeus put his hands up in surrender, eyes blown out wide again. “Hey, hey, hey! I just meant that we have the ban now, chill!”

Poseidon relaxed a little, crossing his arms and resisting the urge to huff. “I have had sex, thank you.”

“Well, damn okay.” Zeus rolled his eyes. “You’re not supposed to.”

“I’m not supposed to have  _ children,” _ Poseidon said defensively. “There’s nothing against sex. It’s called  _ protection. _ Just because I don’t fuck everything I see anymore doesnt mean I don’t fuck, thank you.”

Hades sighed, looking a little defeated. “Is it that hard to just have sex with your wife?”

  
Poseidon rolled his eyes. “Well I _would,_ but Amphitrite _hates_ me. Every time I try to do _anything,_ let alone sex, she slaps me and walks away. I tried to hold her hand once and she twisted my finger back.” He half pouted and half grumbled, and Zeus handed him a comradery marshmallow.

“Well,” Hades said, “she shouldn’t resort to violence, but I’d be bitter if my partner cheated on me constantly too.”

Poseidon rolled his eyes. “Oh, don’t act like you’re perfect either. You broke out of your loyal phase a  _ long _ while ago.”

“Yeah,” Hades agreed a little reluctantly, “but not as much as you two. Not  _ nearly  _ as much as you two. Besides, Persephone and I are more friends now than anything.”

“Wish I could say the same,” Zeus mumbled. Poseidon nodded solemnly in agreement. He and Amphitrite were more _enemies_ now than anything.

“Well anyway,” Hades said, “I found your girl. The brunette with the yellow bandana on her head?”

“Yep, that’s her,” Poseidon muttered. “Is he still looking?”

  
“Yep,” Hades said. He sounded kind of impressed. “Shamelessly. Her friend’s looking too, just a little shyly.”

“That’s definitely her.” 

Hades turned to Zeus, eyebrow raised. “She’s not chubby like...at all.”

“Ehhh…” Poseidon said, screwing up his face a little. Zeus laughed. It  _ was _ a joke: the girl was actually really pretty, Poseidon just wanted to get her back for making him uncomfortable.

“Oh, please.” Hades rolled his eyes. “Not being skinny is not the equivalent of being chubby. And besides, you’re not exactly a looker right now either, Poseidon. At all.”

Poseidon went to laugh, before the words kind of hit and realization flooded him.

Oh. Right. He’d forgotten about that. 

His cheeks set aflame, but he didn’t want to be sensitive again so he forced a short laugh. 

Well—he was right. He looked like any other teenager right now, an ugly one at that. He curled away a little, now feeling not only bad about himself, but for what he’d said too. If this is how that felt, he regretted ever saying it.

“Hades!” Zeus exclaimed, sounding shocked. Poseidon couldn’t see his face.

Hades whipped his head around so fast Poseidon heard his neck crack. “Shit, Poseidon, sorry. I...That was a joke, I didn’t mean that. At all. Seriously, I didn’t mean that.” He sounded a little desperate.

Poseidon resisted the urge to narrow his eyes at the over-apologeticness, and stared directly ahead at the broad back of an Ares camper. “I’’s fine.” His words came out quieter than he intended. “You’re right.”

Well, at least he knew it now. He was mostly offended, but also a little bit glad Hades wasn’t treating him like a baby anymore. The last thing he wanted was for people to walk on eggshells around him, especially with jokes. Well, he wasn’t exactly sure if it was a joke. He sounded kind of serious. Was the 'at all' really necessary? He thought his face was at least somewhat okay... 

“Oh, Poseidon, don’t start this again,” Hades pleaded. Poseidon looked at him, confused. Hades looked half desperate and half exasperated. “The whole ‘oh no it’s fine you didn’t hurt me’ and then you go and cry yourself to sleep.”

Poseidon looked back at the broad back ahead of him. Well. That was, in fact, exactly what he was intending to do. “I’m not doing that,” he lied. “I already knew I wasn’t the best looking, why would I be offended by you saying that?”

“Oh my  _ god,”  _ Zeus groaned. “He’s doing it again. Hades, what did we say we were gonna do again?”

Hades spun around and glared at him. “ _ Zeus.” _

“Oh shit.” His hands flew up to his mouth.

“What?” Poseidon asked, looking back at them. He could feel his eyebrows furrow, heart skipping some beats. “What’s going on?”

“Oh, nothing,” Hades said, attempting to sound casual. It didn’t work. “Um…” he coughed, “anyway…”

“No, hold on.” Poseidon’s eyes narrowed. “Do you two plan what you’re gonna say to me if I get upset?” It sure as hell sounded like it.

Hades looked around awkwardly, and Zeus was acting like his marshmallow pole was the most fascinating thing he’d ever seen in his life. Poseidon pursed his lips. “Fine,” he spat scathingly, “I get it.” He was angry now. Not only did that imply they were talking about him behind his back, but also that they probably just said stuff to make him feel better instead of actually meaning it. He should’ve known they were full of bullshit, right from the start.

“Please don’t be mad,” Hades pleaded. “We _ are  _ sorry when we apologize, it’s just we need to make sure that we don’t hurt you further when we do it.”

“So I’m a baby?” Poseidon asked seethingly, whipping his head around. “I cry at everything you say because I’m just so sensitive?”

“Wellll…” Zeus put up a hand and waved it a little, scrunching his face up.

“ _ Zeus,” _ Hades repeated exasperatedly. He turned to Poseidon. “That’s not what we meant, Poseidon. We’re doing this for you, why are you so mad?”

“I’m n _ ot _ mad,” he snarled, crossing his arms and glaring at the poor kid in front of him. “I’m just... _ ugh,  _ why can’t you just  _ mean  _ what you fucking say?” Heat was working its way into his chest, and he could feel the skin of his palms start to break due to his nails. “Is it that hard to just not be fucking  _ assholes?” _

“Listen, buddy,” Zeus snarled back. Poseidon could hear anger in his voice, the pent-up frustration. “We say the same shit to each other, do you see us throwing a fit over it? No. Just admit that you’re sensitive and appreciate that we’re trying to work around that.”

Poseidon opened his mouth hotly, but came up short when trying to form words. He was left gaping a little, before snapping his mouth shut with another snarl and scooching as far away from Hades as humanly possible so his entire body was pressed up against the pole at the end of the bleachers.

“Oh, Jesus fucking Christ,” Zeus swore. He stood, and stormed his way down the bleachers and out of the campfire. Poseidon could tell the whole camp watched him go, because at around the same time it would take him to leave, all of their gazes switched to him and Hades. He glared at an empty spot on the ground, willing them all to go away. Whispers filled the air, and Poseidon nearly slapped the girl now directly in front of him, whose head was turned almost 180, raising an eyebrow at him. In fact, he was *this* close to doing so, before she finally turned around, and most of the camp did too. 

He heard an awkward cough, before some Apollo kid gave a rundown of the songs they were going to play that night. It was met with some approval and some groans, but Poseidon didn’t care. His jaw was set, and his eyes did not move from the one spot on the ground. He did not blink. He did not breathe.

The first song started to play, and singing and music filled the air, eliminating the awkwardness out of the air for everyone except him and Hades. Soon, campers started to laugh and dance, their voices echoing high into the sky.

He was expecting it when he felt a new presence at his side. Hades had scooched over to him, and was staring at him relentlessly.

“Poseidon,” he said.

Poseidon ignored him. He did not feel like he could talk at the moment, but even if he could, he would choose not to.

Hades sighed quietly, and it was another few moments before he tried again. “Are you angry with me over what I said or over me and Zeus talking about you?”

Poseidon still did not respond.

After another moment, Hades sighed again. “Poseidon, c’mon. We’re not going to get anywhere if you don’t talk.”

Poseidon pushed his tongue up against the inside of his lower lip as he felt his eyes fill up with tears. Oh, why now? At a campfire? Really?

“Oh, Poseidon…” It was said so quietly Poseidon almost didn’t catch it. Hades scooted even closer and put an arm around him. “Do you want to leave? We can go out the back so no one will notice.”

Poseidon did not respond for a few seconds, before he finally nodded. Hades nodded too, with a soft “okay”. His arm slipped off Poseidon’s shoulder, and he turned around so his legs were hanging over the bleachers on the opposite side. Poseidon looked at him, everything a little blurry. He waited a moment before he turned around, too, swinging his legs over the side and using Hades’s offered arm to help himself down. It was woods behind the bleachers, and thankfully no one heard their crunching footsteps over the music and singing.

Truly, he wasn’t that upset over what Hades said. I mean —yeah it stung, but it wasn’t nearly as bad the stuff they'd said to him previously. Plus, h is brothers  _ did  _ say stuff like that to each other, even if Poseidon knew it was more true with him. Similar to how girls call each other whores but if a guy did it it would be offensive, y’know? Or like how a fat girl can call herself fat but no one else can. Still, Poseidon tried to accept the joke.

What  _ did  _ bother him was the implication of them pre-planning apologizes, especially for scenarios that haven’t even happened. Were they saying they were sorry just to get him to stop being upset, or were they genuinely sorry? He was starting to doubt the latter. Afterall, he’d been suspecting it a little before, but this almost confirmed it. And to other people it may seem like a good thing that they were trying to figure out apologies, but all it told Poseidon was that they genuinely thought what they said, and had to pre-plan for when they accidentally let it slip. And that...Well. That shit hurted.

Still, he shouldn’t cry about it. He was a 4000-something year old man. That’s...wait, how old is that in immortal years? He didn’t know. Maybe he was still old, or maybe he was practically still in the womb. He didn’t really keep up to date with all that stuff. Regardless, he was a king and a god, hell, part of the big three. He shouldn’t be going around crying about this kind of shit.

But he was. He was going around crying about this kind of shit.

But the problem lies in the fact that the last time he tried to be tough, he ended up just having an even worse mental breakdown than if he had just let it out earlier. So, he wasn’t sure if he was going to go get his brain magically altered or…

They remained in silence the whole walk down to the cabins. Poseidon let Hades lead the way: he had no idea what he was doing. Hades was walking a little bit ahead of him, but just barely. Poseidon felt small beside him. Well—he always did, but now he felt it more figuratively. He had only ever seen Hades break down once, twice if you counted anger. He was irritable at times, but the only time Poseidon had seen him truly get angry without any separate source feeding it was that night in condo all those weeks ago, when Poseidon had come home late. During their time as mortals, that is. Meanwhile, he was left crying over little things and getting angry over little things and getting happy over little things and getting stressed over little things. He admired Hades’ emotional control. 

The moonlight shone over the landscape, providing light yet making it seem later than it truly was. The wind was a little chilly tonight, stinging Poseidon’s cheeks and sending goosebumps up his arms. The air was cold and fresh going into Poseidon’s lungs, and he numbly watched the lake glitter in the moonlight. It looked much like black ink with spilled silver in the centre, it’s black waters lapping gently at the now cold sand. 

They were still silent as they approached the Poseidon cabin, and it remained so as they entered it and closed the door. Hades flicked on the lightswitch, and Poseidon waited for his next move, lingering awkwardly by the door. He really wasn’t sure what was happening; he assumed they were going to talk but they hadn’t done so so far.

Hades walked over to the bed and sat down, patting the place beside him. Poseidon’s throat felt thick all of the sudden, and he darted his eyes around before sitting down. He felt very much like a child that had just received an F on a report card, or had gotten into a fight at school. Hades was still silent as he sat down, and Poseidon fiddled with his hands in his lap, eyes never leaving them. It was still and silent inside of the cabin, all except for the sound of running water coming from the fountain. The light above was awkwardly yellow, making Poseidon shift back and forth uncomfortably.

“Well…” Hades started. Poseidon still didn’t look up. “I’m just going to ask you the same question again, is that alright?”

Poseidon didn’t answer, hoping he’d just take it as a yes.

He did. “Okay. Well...um, are you upset by what I said to you, or about me and Zeus—” he cleared his throat awkwardly, “—er, planning apologies?”

Poseidon shrugged.  _ Oh, c’mon. Just tell him.  _ He couldn’t. He could feel the beginning of tears in the back of his throat, and the last thing he wanted was for them to spill.

Because really, if he was going to be honest with himself, it wasn’t that Hades and Zeus were talking about him. Well, yes, that was part of it, but not all of it. 10 percent was what Hades said, 40 percent was them talking about him behind his back, but most of all...he was just disappointed. He thought they were over all of this. That all of the hurt feelings and shit would be left with Chaos and his anger stimulation. Well—bad-emotions stimulation. For Poseidon it was just sadness, and he assumed it was jealousy for Jason.

“Please, Poseidon,” Hades broke him out of his thoughts. “Talk to me.”

Poseidon’s shoulders slumped. He opened his mouth for a bit, but no words came out. He closed it again and stared at his hands. Hades gaze bore into him for another eternity, and he didn’t know what to do. He couldn’t speak, he couldn’t escape, and he couldn’t hold it in for much longer.

“I just…” he trailed off. Hades’ gaze remained relentless, and Poseidon shut his eyes tightly. He felt hot tears well up behind his eyelids, and he pursed his lips together. After a few moments, he finally let his face relax, and hung his head. “I just thought I wasn’t going to cry anymore.” It came out as a whisper.

He could feel Hades’s gaze turn soft. “Oh, Poseidon…” He scooched closer to him and wrapped his arms around his shoulders. Poseidon buried his face into Hades’ shoulder, screwing up his face again to fight the tears. “I’m sorry,” was whispered above him.

It took him a moment to gain composure so he wouldn’t break down before he spoke. “It’s not your fault…” Poseidon mumbled, voice shaky. It wasn’t. He was the one crying.

“Yeah it is. C’mon, let it out. We both know that’s the better option for you, yeah? You’ve seen me cry. It’s okay.”

Poseidon’s lip trembled, and he finally gave in. It wasn’t chest-wracking, but it felt just as relieving, and embarrassing. “I’m sorry,” he choked out. The tears were already hot and salty down his face, blurring his vision and flushing his cheeks.

“It’s okay baby,” Hades whispered into his hair. He held him closer, and then scooted back on the bed so they were both against the wall. Poseidon turned to him completely then, letting tears fall out of his eyes like rivers. His shoulders shook slightly, and snot dripped out of his nose. Hades smelled like campfire, but he thought he must’ve too. And salt, now. Hades’ hair had grown longer than usual, brushing around his ears and tickling Poseidon’s forehead a little. The tears dripped down and off his chin, falling onto his hoodie and wetting Hades’.

After a few moments, his crying died down, but he did not move. They both said nothing, letting silence fall over them like a blanket, only small sniffles filling the air. It was still in the cabin then, Poseidon’s eyes still shut tight, breathing in the smoky scent left on Hades’ hoodie. Hades was gently rubbing his arm, but Poseidon couldn’t tell when he started. It was peaceful all of the sudden, even if Poseidon’s face was too hot and he could still feel snot hovering above his upper lip.

Finally, he looked up. Hades caught his eyes, and Poseidon was surprised to find them puffy and bloodshot, rimmed with tears. He had a few tear streaks and his face was red and flushed. Poseidon’s brows furrowed, and he shot up straighter in concern. “What?” he asked, panicked. His voice was nasally. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Hades half-whispered, half-laughed, wiping his eyes. “I just…” He paused and moved the hand that had been wiping his tears to brush a strand of hair behind Poseidon’s ear. “I don’t like seeing you upset all the time.” It came out as a whisper, breaking off at the end. “Especially when I’m the one causing it. You make me feel like a piece of shit, do you know that?”

Poseidon frowned, suddenly forgetting all about his own tears. “Don’t feel bad about me,” he whispered, looking around Hades’ face and wishing all the tears would go away. “You’ve done more for me than anyone.”

Hades smiled a little more through his tears. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. Poseidon wasn’t expecting that answer. “About everything. I know we’ve already been through this, but about tonight and all the time. And I’m sorry that it might happen again. And I’m sorry about Zeus and about us talking about you like you’re a kid. I just…” He trailed off, and his eyes were pained when they looked back at Poseidon. “I just want you to be happy.”

“It’s okay,” Poseidon said, trying to sound as positive as possible. He wiped a little of Hades’ tears away. It had been awhile since he’d seen him cry. “It’s not your fault.”

Hades half-laughed. “How is it not my fault?”

Poseidon opened his mouth a little, furrowing his brow and tilting his head. “I...I don’t know...but…” he trailed off, not finding any words. He wanted to tell him that it was somehow Poseidon’s fault, reassure him he did nothing wrong. The last thing Poseidon wanted was for Hades to be upset, and if him being upset was doing that, then he’d have to not be anymore.

After another few moments, Hades contradicted his very thoughts. “Please don’t use this as an excuse to not cry. It’s not you crying that makes me upset, it’s that I’m the one causing it, okay?”

Poseidon fell silent, frowning. He wasn’t sure whether to listen to him or not. Because if he didn’t cry, then Hades wouldn’t think he hurt his feelings, which would mean he wouldn’t be upset...

After another few moments, he finally decided to let Hades decide. “Are you sure?”

Hades smiled tearily. “Positive.”

It took a moment, but Poseidon eventually nodded, still frowning. Hades unwrapped his arm from around his shoulders and looked at the TV in the corner. “Let’s watch a movie, yeah? No more crying from either of us tonight, okay?”

Poseidon nodded, sniffing a little. He cry-laughed, the kind of laugh that's not really a laugh and is really short and breaks off at the end. “No Disney movies then.”

Hades cry-laughed a little too, but nodded. He pushed himself off the bed and to the TV in the corner, taking out the stacks of CD’s. They went through them all again, laughing a little over The Little Mermaid and their first movie night. They didn't even consider any sad movies, let alone something like The Lion King. No amount of feel-good scenes in that movie could outweigh Mufasa's death. Eventually, they both decided on Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, and Hades wasted no time in coming back to bed when the movie started playing. 

The opening credits started to play, and Poseidon got under the blankets horizontally. Hades got under them too, and Poseidon wasted no time in curling up into his side. Hades was warmer than he usually was, though that wasn't saying much. He wrapped his arms around Poseidon's shoulders again, and Poseidon rested his head on his chest.

The opening scene started playing, but Poseidon’s mind was elsewhere. He just couldn’t shake the guilt of making Hades upset, even if he didn’t mean to. He couldn’t stop being embarrassed about his little breakdown, even if Hades said it was okay. He tried to force the thoughts to the back of his mind to enjoy the movie, but they just kept fighting their way back up to the front, killing all other thoughts in the process. He tried naming characteristics of Dumbledore's face, tried to figure out who Aunt Petunia looked like, and even tried to figure out who Uncle Vernon's godly parent would be, but in the end he just went back to thinking about Hades and how he made him upset.

About four to five scenes in, he finally couldn’t take it anymore. He tried to say it a few times, but only got it out at about his fifth attempt. “I’m…” he choked, and he felt Hades turn his gaze down to him. “I’m sorry about crying all the time.” He cringed: he _meant_ the words, but the phrasing needed some work. It was true though. It's just that it made him seem like he was fishing for validation.

Hades didn't seem to mind, and squeezed him tighter for a moment. “Hey, look at me.” Poseidon did, and when he caught his eyes, Hades was smiling. “It’s okay. There’s nothing wrong with crying, alright? Even in excess. I’d like us to work on your confidence a bit, but even then, it’s still okay to cry, alright?”

Poseidon looked away and nodded, warmth spilling throughout his chest. “Okay,” he mumbled, a smile he couldn’t push down forming. His cheeks were also heated, though he didn’t know why.

He saw Hades smile at him out of the corner of his eye. “Okay.”

They went back to watching the movie, cuddled up like lovebirds. Ew—that was a weird comparison. Like friends that had never fought in their lives. That was better.

Poseidon ended up falling asleep about halfway through, and he didn’t think Hades made it too much longer. It was nice to have some company while falling asleep, especially when the person was cuddled up right next to you. It had beed awhile since Poseidon had that. Well, that was a lie. It had been awhile since Poseidon had that with someone in an actual bed and not during a war.

He slept better than he had in a long time that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so yeah!!! sorry about the kind of forced angst, we needed a hasidon moment to really kick things off
> 
> btw what are yalls opinion on angst??? like do you want the same amount as my other one, less than my other one, more than my other one...
> 
> if too many reviews have mixed opinions i'll just go with the flow but I want ur insight so yee !
> 
> thanks for continuing to read this mess!!!! :))
> 
> (also btw sorry for using the term 'brother' a fair amount in this chapter, I know their not technically biologically related but it's still weird to call them that. I'm going to try to use the term less, it's just I couldn't think of any other words to use that sounded normal. if y'all have any suggestions that would be great)
> 
> also PS I know Zeus wasn't present in the bonding part of this, but he will be later on when more bonding happens!!! just not this chapter :)


	5. poseidon gets vibe checked again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> more angst y'all I can't stop someone stop me this whole thing will be angst unless you stop me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys!! sorry for the kinda delayed update this time, I got vibe checked by schoolwork
> 
> also this one is also OC heavy!! :( But there's big three at the beginning and end, and Will is through most of the middle!! he's not an OC so thas good. If you're wondering why this one seems to be so OC heavy, it's is because I don't feel comfortable giving the roles they play to already existing characters. don't worry, as I said, this is still going to be mostly zeus, poseidon, and hades, but John is going to have to play a fair role for plot reasons. I hope y'all don't mind too much :(( Tell me if you do!! and also tell me if you have any recommendations if you don't like it!!! I won't mind, I feel like I'm disappointing y'all with all the OC's. I don't really like them either

When Poseidon woke up, he was very confused.

Well, for a moment he was. His upright position, the arm around his shoulders, the bright light still on overhead. It all came flooding back to him within a moment though: the fight at the campfire, the teary conversation following, the sleep-filled movie. All of these memories slipped back into his mind, pushing his recollection of the dream he’d been having further and further away. It was something about chocolate covered bananas or something. He was trying to start a business, he thought. He’d always had strange dreams.

He blinked a little to try to get rid of the sleep in his eyes, but it didn’t work. He used his fingers instead, yawning. It felt weird between his fingers, sticky and oddly crunchy. But it woke him up, just as it always did. He turned to Hades, but he was still fast asleep, head leaning against the wall, lips slightly parted and eyelashes casting shadows on his cheekbones. Poseidon always found it weird when people slept with their mouth open: it was a concern of his that little bugs would crawl in, or it would fill up with dust. Obviously that didn’t happen, but he was still grateful that he didn’t do it.

There was something weird about watching people sleep. Obviously, it was creepy, but there was something else about it. It was oddly personal, similar to the feeling of strangers trusting you to watch their purse or wallet as they went somewhere. It wasn’t like the person purposely or consciously let you watch them, but it still felt like a great honour, like you were being trusted to not do anything while they were in blissful unconsciousness.

But alas, it was still creepy.

Poseidon would’ve liked to say he looked away, but he didn’t. He glanced away, but he saw a strand of hair on his forehead and used it as an excuse to look back. Hades never looked quite as calm as he did while he was sleeping. He always had something on his mind when he was awake, whether it was concern, anger, worry, stress...It was nice to see him so relaxed. 

Poseidon sighed, finally looking away. Now it was getting really creepy. He glanced at the time on the clock.

He nearly shit himself.

He shot up off the wall, hearing a grunt behind him. _"Holy shit!"_ __ he half-yelled.  It was almost one o’clock, they’d overslept about five hours. He scrambled off the bed—well, no. He fell off of the bed—and up to the bathroom, not bothering to shut the door behind him before starting to get ready.

“What? What’s going on?” Hades asked sleepily from the main part of the cabin.

“We overslept!” Poseidon called out, frantically unzipping his jeans (he slept in jeans?) to use the bathroom. 

“What? By how mu—holy shit!”

Poseidon willed his pee to go faster, and snickered a little at the familiar thump from the bed that he had just made moments prior. Not two seconds later, Hades was also scrambling into the bathroom, and Poseidon nearly pissed himself—wait. Whatever, you get the idea. “Jesus!” He felt the need to cover up, but he was still peeing and he had a feeling that was not a very good idea.

“What?” Hades asked, panic in his voice, picking up Poseidon’s comb and desperately trying to comb out his hair. “I promised Chiron I’d be at the Big House at nine-thirty!”

Poseidon didn’t really know how to respond, so just quickly tucked everything in as soon as he was done. He awkwardly stood beside Hades for a second, before deciding to just fuck it. He shoved his hands under the tap, washing his hands faster than he ever had in his life. It was quite possibly the most awkward and uncomfortable position he had ever put his body into, with half of him behind Hades and arms forming a strange backwards ‘C’ shape to get his hands under the water.

After he was done, he cupped his hands and splashed his face, getting most of it on his hoodie and neck. Then he grabbed his toothbrush, and hip-butted Hades out of the way to get the toothpaste. Hades responded with a ‘Hey!’ but showed no further protest. He was having an awfully rough time with his hair: he hadn’t brushed it yesterday either and with how long it was getting it was even harder to detangle. Poseidon didn’t pay it much mind, however, accidentally putting way too much toothpaste on his brush and not even bothering to wet it before sticking it in his mouth, recoiling slightly at the foul feeling of dry toothpaste. His heart was pounding, body jittering to get to the infirmary.

Once finished, he fully hip-checked Hades out of the way to rinse his mouth. Hades hip-checked his way back, making Poseidon spit some of the toothpaste-y water on the counter. He didn’t care much, and decided that he could go without brushing his hair for the day. Hades was still trying desperately to get knots out as he rushed back out to where the beds were, picking up his discarded shoes and kicking them on, frantically looking for his jean jacket he always put over his hoodie in the mornings. Oh shit—it wasn’t morning, it wasn’t cold out. Okay, so he was ready. 

“Bye!” He called to Hades. He felt vaguely guilty leaving him breaking down over his hair, but then again he also didn’t want to lose his job at the infirmary on his second day. Well—it wasn’t really a job. He didn’t get paid. Still.

He sprinted past the cabins, dining pavilion, and volleyball courts, attracting way too many stares and whispers of “what is he doing?”. When he finally reached the infirmary, his lungs and throat were about to collapse and he was panting as if he’d run a marathon. He felt a little light-headed, but opted to ignore it, walking up the stairs and turning to the main entrance. Wait no—he wasn’t supposed to do that. He half-jogged to the walkway, and turned down it. Oh god—what was he going to sa—?

To say the least, he wasn’t expecting a heavy wooden branch to smack him square in the face. He stumbled back, feeling blood squirt from his nose immediately, coating his lips and chin in hot, sticky red. The pain was sharp and unbearable, like a knife had just been stabbed through the middle of his face. He let out an “oof” as another branch hit him right in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him. He wheezed, and stumbled back, right before another branch could take out his legs. He fell back against the railing at the start of the walkway just as the main entrance door slammed open and three figures exited, two immediately coming to his side. The branches stopped their attacks, but Poseidon was still left gasping in pain, hands desperately clutching his nose. He thought it must’ve been broken: no hit to the nose had ever felt as bad as this one.

He heard a loud gasp. “Oh my gods, are you okay?” He didn’t know how to respond, so he didn’t. Although, he didn't think he could talk if he tried, he was too winded from the blow to the stomach. Still, did he _look_ okay to them?

“Shit,” he heard someone curse. He knew it was either John or Will, but he couldn’t tell which. The world was blurry with tears, adding another hot liquid to his face and overall just making his face a not very fun experience at the moment.

“Help me get him inside.” This time he knew it was Will, and he felt the two of them lift him up. He thought that was a little much: he could walk on his own. So he did so, brushing off their complete support and just leaning on them, still gasping for air.

“I told them this was a bad idea,” Will muttered. “Sorry about this, Poseidon.” It was in a normal volume this time. “I knew someone should’ve looked out for you to make sure you didn’t make the mistake.”

Poseidon couldn’t respond, but was somewhat grateful for his apology. He would’ve appreciated it more if his face didn’t feel like it was split in two.

Clara opened the door for them, and he was plopped onto the first hospital bed on the right side. So—the technical left side. Will adjusted the bed so it was in a sitting position, and Poseidon had to brace himself so he wouldn’t fall off at the sudden jerk.

“Lay down,” Will told him, “I’m gonna heal you all up in just a sec, alright?”

Poseidon nodded, but cringed as he felt blood in the back of his throat. He resisted it going down, which only made him gurgle and choke on it. He nearly threw up: he had never had blood in his life until a month and a bit ago, let alone had he tasted it. Ichor was so much lighter and sweeter than blood, though somehow thicker. Blood tasted vile. Nonetheless, he complied Will’s wishes, and relaxed back on the bed. Pain was coming from his nose in pumps, like a heart pounding. Gods, he hated being mortal.

Within moments, Will was back and sitting in front of him. “Okay, this is going to hurt for a second but it’ll feel better right after, alright?”

Poseidon nodded frantically, just wanting the pain to be over. Will nodded and gave him a calm smile, before reaching up to his nose and cracking it right back into place. Poseidon let out a pained yell, screwing his eyes shut as white hot tears filled them. A little more blood splattered, but Will was right: the pain did go away slightly, even if not completely. He relaxed a little, and Will was still smiling at him when he opened his eyes. This time, he had a wet cloth in his hand. “Do you want to just clean yourself up for me?” he asked. It wasn’t really a question: just a nice way of telling someone to do something. 

Poseidon nodded, taking the cloth from his hands and bringing it up to his chin area. He swiped it across, cringing a little at the bright red-ness that was now the cloth as he pulled it away from his face. He folded it, then repeated until most of the blood was gone. His nose still felt thick and heavy, and there was a slimy feeling at the back of his throat. “Can y—” he choked, and nearly threw up again, “Can you get me some water and a bowl or bucket please?” His voice was incredibly nasally.

Will nodded, and went to fetch said items. Poseidon was grateful when he returned soon, and nearly snatched them from his grasp, taking a swing of water and pushing it to the back of his throat before his gag reflex pushed it back out into the bowl. It was an uncomfortable and gross feeling, but it got the job done. Poseidon took deep breaths and rested his head against the elevated bed, not wanting to look any further at the disgusting mix of snot, saliva and blood in the bowl. Will gently took it from him, and placed it on the bedside table.

“John’s going to put something on your nose to prevent swelling, alright?” he asked, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. “I put it back in its natural shape, but it’s still going to swell like crazy if we don’t put this on it. It feels a little weird, but it works. Then he'll apply a bruise-repellent, okay?”

Poseidon nodded. He hadn’t even noticed that John had left, but there he was, emerging from the supply room with two brown bottles and some small cotton pads. 

“I’m going to go back to my office alright?” Will somewhat-asked him. “I’m sorry about this, it should be better soon.” He turned to John. “And make sure to give him Advil, alright? Broken noses still hurt even after they’re treated.”

John nodded with a stiff jaw, and turned to Poseidon. Will shot one last smile at the two of them, and then left for his office, leaving Poseidon and John essentially alone (Clara and Emma seemed to be in their own little world).

Poseidon tried not to watch him as John poured a little of the contents of the bottle onto the cotton swab. He didn't really know why, but he supposed he was embarrassed. Will had this strange aura where it felt like you physically couldn't be embarrassed around him, but John did not have that. “Relax,” he said. Poseidon tried to.

The ointment felt weird on his nose, warm and tingly, as if his nose had fallen asleep. It spread all around the area as well, reaching his mid forehead and brushing his upper lip. It was an odd sensation, not necessarily unpleasant but also not pleasurable. Poseidon tried to ignore it, and kept on glancing awkwardly back and from John’s face. 

The boy looked incredibly annoyed, nostrils flared and jaw set like someone had just told him his uncle died. Poseidon was half worried it was too-much concentration, and he had somehow messed up. A little but of panic worked up in his chest. He didn’t want to look even uglier…

After a moment of building up courage to say something, Poseidon asked: “What’s wrong?” He tried to not let panic slip into his words.

“Nothing,” it was said through gritted teeth and hard eyes. John didn’t look him in the eyes, instead glaring directly at his nose and not letting his eyes stray anywhere else.

Poseidon relaxed a little. With that reaction, he assumed it was personal. If it had been his nose that was the problem, he didn’t think he would hold back what was going on, and would instead give him instructions or something. He usually wasn’t one to push, but he felt the need to ask anyway. He was fixing his nose, afterall, the least Poseidon could do is make sure he’s okay. “Are you sure?” He tried to make his voice sound as soft as possible.

He seemed to snap, pulling that swab away and glaring Poseidon in the eyes. Poseidon jumped a little, not expecting such a spasmic reaction.

“ _ No, _ ” he spat. “Why were you late?"

Poseidon stared at him in shock for a moment, completely not expecting that answer, like...at all. "I...what?"

"It’s your  _ second _ day," he explained, aggressively shoving more ointment onto the pad. "You did virtually nothing yesterday, and now you show up five hours late! And just to add onto it, you go and get your face fucking smashed, leaving me to fix it!”

“John!” Clara exclaimed.

“ _ Sorry, _ ” he retorted mockingly. He went for Poseidon’s face again.

Poseidon stopped him. “Well,  _ sorry, _ ” he said, still attempting to get over his shock. “I wasn’t aware I was the one who put the Whomping Willow along the entrance!”

“You were told about it!” He thrusted his arms out as if Poseidon was the most frustrating thing he’d ever encountered in his whole life. Some of the contents of the bottle spilled, and Clara scolded him again angrily. John didn't acknowledge her.

“Well—” Poseidon desperately tried to think of a response. Technically, he was right. But still, they should’ve been there to escort him. Ooo! There, that’s a good one. “One of you should’ve been there to escort me!” He felt is face start to grow hot, and his fists were close to curling.

John looked at him as if he had just said the most idiotic thing capable of coming out of a human being's mouth, while also still remaining angry. “It’s not our  _ job  _ to babysit you! Do you want us to knock on your door and escort you like little servants? ‘Cause you’re just so above us?”

“I didn’t  _ say  _ that—”

“Then what  _ did  _ you say?” He plopped his arms down to his lap. “What  _ did  _ you mean? Because all I’m hearing is that you think you’re perfect and can do no wrong, so instead of blaming  _ yourself  _ for coming in  _ two hours before our shift ends _ and walking  _ yourself _ into the walkway like a blithering idiot, you blame us! Isn’t that right, Poseidon?”

Poseidon felt more heat work its way from his chest up his neck and to his face. “ _ No—” _

“Yes!” John interrupted him. “Jesus Christ!” He let out a crazed laugh. “The moment you walked in here I knew you were just some lazy egomaniac that got sent to infirmary because Chiron had no better place to put you! Do you know why he put you in here? 'Cuz I don't! Unless you’re an Apollo kid, there’s no  _ way  _ you can help in the infirmary, unless you helping is counting supplies or handing us tools! Chiron just knew you weren’t capable of being anywhere else! Probably because you're fucking..." He waved his arms around, eyes crazed and looking for a word, "...I don't know, stupid!”

“ _ Johnathan! _ ” Clara cried. “Stop it!”

“You don’t like him either!” John snapped back, whipping his head to look around at her. “You said he made you uncomfortable!” He turned back to Poseidon. “What, are you a creep too? She’s 14!”

Poseidon went to respond again, but a frog had made a home in his throat. He opened his mouth, but had to quickly snap it back closed again to purse his lips so they wouldn’t tremble. His eyes burned.  _ Ah, shit. Here we go again. Godfucking dammit. In front of three pretty much strangers, one that’s 14. Great. _

But he was right.

He was just starting to realize now—he  _ had _ been an absolute dick. He complained about doing something that everyone had to do and then did nothing, and now today he showed up late and forced everyone to help him. Crippling doubt started to fill his entire being. Was he an asshole? He hadn’t thought so. But he supposed assholes didn’t know they were assholes…

Panic filled him as a tear leaked, and his hand flew up so fast to wipe it away you could barely see it move. 

Was he an idiot too? He sounded confident in what he was saying...He knew he wasn’t the brightest person on the planet, but he knew about the oceans and stuff...and how to make people in his kingdom happy…That meant he was kind of smart, right? He didn't think Chiron thought he was an idiot...

He was an idiot. 

And an asshole.

What a great revelation on this fine Wednesday afternoon. Deja vu from last night struck as he pushed his tongue against the inside of his lower lip to help keep the tears at bay. He didn't really know why he was crying: he was starting to think that maybe that was just his instinctive reaction to being yelled at. Wow, he didn't know he was an eight year old girl, either. Today was just full of surprises. He took a few breaths for a second, adamantly refusing to look in John’s direction and turning his face in hopes that he wouldn’t see his tears. “I’m sorry.” It came out as a whisper. He hadn’t intended it to.

Gods. Who would’ve thought an 18 year old son of Apollo would open his third eye. Who would’ve thought he’d let an 18 year old son of Apollo get to his head so much? But it was a good thing. He’d have to make some changes.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw John start to look a little panicked. “Uh…” The boy glanced around, eyes wide, before looking back at him. “Hey…” His voice suddenly got softer, but Poseidon still didn’t look at him. Instead, he blinked hard in hopes of ridding of the tears. “Um...It’s...okay. I’m sorry?”

Poseidon turned to him slightly, confused. When he caught sight of him, the boy looked absolutely distressed, panic in his eyes and confusion evident in his features. Poseidon furrowed his brow. “What?” It came out more high-pitched than he wanted it to. What was going on? Did his nose just break in two or something? He half wanted to touch it to make sure it didn’t.

“I...I’m sorry?” John apologized, eyes wide and still a little panicked. “You looked so sad there...I…I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings, I thought you’d just leave...” He looked genuinely scared, and Poseidon felt a little guilty. He really needed to start working on hiding his facial expressions.

“Oh, it’s okay,” it was unintentionally whispered again. “I will, sorry.” He pushed himself off the bed a little hurriedly. He could feel the tears start threatening to spill, and spill heavily at that. He needed to leave before they did.

“Hey, wait!” John grabbed his arm, making Poseidon jump a little. He turned to him, but he looked away when he caught Poseidon’s eyes. “I...I still need to work on your nose. And I’m...I’m sorry about what I said. It was...um, insensitive, I guess.”

Poseidon smiled, desperately shaking his arm out of his grasp. “No really, it’s fine. It’s just for swelling, right? I’ll put some ice on it.” He knew the answer, so quickly turned around and tried to exit the building. One tear leaked, and he brushed it away, knowing that fifty more were about to spill.

“Hey, wait! Please.”

Poseidon was about to go anyway, but John grabbed his arm. He sighed, but did not resist, turning back. The second tear. The third. Fourth.

“Oh my gods you’re crying.” He looked to be in an absolute panic, eyes darting over to Clara and Emma and everywhere else like someone was out to assassinate him. “You’re  _ actually _ crying, okay. Oh my gods. I made Poseidon cry.”

Poseidon wiped his eyes, despite there being no real use now. “Just fix my nose, yeah? Then I’ll be out of your hair.” Out of your hair? Really? Since when did he say that? It came out shaky, breaking off a little at some parts.

“I...okay, yeah...Uh, oh my gods sorry.”

“What’s going on?” Will burst out of his office—well, not really, he just kind of opened the door swiftly. “Is something wr—Poseidon?” His face changed from panicked to concerned, quickly striding over, brows furrowed and lips tugged into a frown. “Are you crying? What’s going on?”

Poseidon tried to respond, but it really didn’t work. He just kind of gaped, shrugging. More tears slipped down his cheeks, and he felt like curling up into a little ball and hiding himself in a locked closet where no one could find him. Or where he couldn’t bother anyone. 

Will walked right up to him, and looked like he was about to draw him into a hug before he stopped. “Can I hug you?”

Poseidon was a little surprised at the question: usually people just went ahead and assumed they could. Truthfully, he didn’t want Will to hug him, but he also didn’t want to make it awkward for him by saying no. So he nodded, pursing his lips together tighter to make sure he didn’t accidentally let out a sob.

Will pulled him into a brief hug. He was a noticeable amount taller than Poseidon was now, but not astronomically so. Poseidon thought he might be taller than him when back in his usual form. He smelled like flowers and sunshine. Poseidon thought that was an odd scent for a boy, but he supposed it was better than what he smelled on some of the other guys.

He was surprised to find that the hug wasn’t awkward, but rather enjoyable, even if brief. Will was warm and a good mix of firm and soft, perfect for prime hugging abilities. It did make him feel a little better. Physical affection always had, even if it took him a few thousand years to admit it.

When Will pulled back, he looked as if he was going to cup Poseidon’s face but instead put his hand on his shoulder. “You don’t seem to be in physical pain.” His eyes were darting all around Poseidon’s face, searching for something that Poseidon did not know of. “Is it something else? Or _are_ you in physical pain? What’s going on?”

Poseidon opened his mouth to answer, but was once again left gaping, no idea of what to say popping into his mind. “I jus…” It was barely a whisper, but this time it wasn’t intended to be louder. More tears slipped from his eyes, and he wished they’d stop. It was such a stupid reaction to sadness. What was the point? What on earth made water leak from your eyes due to an emotion? Why?

“It was me,” John said. His face was screwed up as he said it, as if it physically pained him to admit it. Poseidon couldn’t tell if that was because he was prideful or just really guilty. He had a gut feeling it was the former. “I...I was insensitive. I told him about what we’d talked about this morning. And I know you told me that it’s not right but I just...I’m sorry.”

“What did you say?” Will asked. He sounded calm, but something told Poseidon it was forced.

“I…”

“He told him that he’s stupid and an a-hole,” Emma piped up. Poseidon whipped his head around to look at her, eyebrows shooting up to his hairline. He had never heard the girl's voice before. But then again, he supposed this was only his second day seeing her. It was weak and raspy, but also somehow kinda nice-sounding too.

“Emma,” Clara whispered, scolding.

“And then he said Chiron only sent him here because he’s useless anywhere else,” she continued. She sounded almost too happy saying it, and Poseidon was starting to get uncomfortable. He’d thought everyone here was friends and wouldn’t throw each other under the bus, but apparently not. She continued further. “He also said that he’s an egomaniac, and that he was inconveniencing him by making him fix his nose.”

“Emma oh my gods,” Clara muttered under her breath.

Will turned from Emma to John, face mostly blank. “Is this true?”

“I…” John looked scared, and hesitated a few moments more. “No," he said finally. Poseidon's eyebrows shot up. "No it isn’t. I just said he shouldn’t have shown up late, and he made a big deal out of it.”

Poseidon gaped at him, tears dripping off his chin and to his shirt.

Will turned to him, but this time he was more unimpressed. It felt like a punch to the stomach. He believed him. Now everyone thought he was not only an asshole, but a manipulative one too. Great.

“Is that true, Poseidon?” He sounded a lot more tired than he had a second ago.

“No!” Poseidon said, though it was more of a whisper-shout. “He…”

“Yes it is!” John said. He sounded completely believable, and Poseidon’s gut sank to his shoes. “Now he’s lying!”

“Are you kidding me?” Emma piped up again. “He’s the one lying? Literally all of what I said was true—”

“Emma calm down, you can’t risk your heart rate going any higher, alright?” Will asked. His voice was suddenly sweet again. “I know it’s weird, but your heart rate did go up instead of down like most patients, and we can’t let it go any higher, okay?”

Emma crossed her arms, but nonetheless relaxed back on the bed from where her shoulders had been hovering off it. “Okay, but what I said was true.”

“Alright,” Will said, holding up an arm, “I believe you.”

Poseidon relaxed a little, even as he felt a sob bubble dangerously close to the surface. He believed her, not John. Thank the gods. He didn’t think he could explain what had actually happened right now if he tried, he was investing too much energy in trying not to cry.

“ _ What? _ ” John asked, looking the perfect picture of innocence. Poseidon was a little impressed by his acting skills, but mostly just resented him with a passion.

“I’m going to talk to you in a minute, John,” Will said, then turned back to fully face Poseidon. His eyes were soft, as was his smile. “Would you like to speak in my office or outside?”

  
“I just…” Poseidon hiccuped, and his cheeks set aflame. “I just want to…” Cry. Cry alone. Crying alone is exactly what he wanted to do right now.

“What?” Will asked gently. He placed his hand back on his shoulder. “You don’t have to be embarrassed, you’ve been through a lot this past month. What would you like to do?”

“Can I just step outside for a moment?” Poseidon struggled to get out, praying to nothing but everything at the same time that he’d say yes.

Will gave him a soft smile. “Of course. But I’ll speak to you once you’re ready, okay? Please don’t stray too far, we still need to fix up your nose a little.”

  
Poseidon nodded. “Thanks.” He turned around and stode so fast out of there one would think the back of his shoes were on fire. He pushed the door open and didn’t bother to let it close softly before half-sprinting down the stairs and out of the general vicinity. Sure, he’d go back, but he didn’t need them hearing his ugly ass, chest-wracking sobs.

He collapsed against one side of the big house, that was almost completely shaded by trees and out of the view of all of camp. It only took a few tears for it to escalate, and he was suddenly sobbing, chest heaving and wracking and tears choking his throat. He didn’t bother burying his head in his knees: no one could see him here anyway. Snot had already started to drip out of his nose, but he made no move to stop it; he didn’t feel like he could remove his hands from his knees if he tried. The pressure on the back of his throat was immense, and it shook with every sob he heaved out.

By this point, he was starting to think something went wrong with his hormones when changing into a teenager. Even  _ if  _ what Hades said was true, he shouldn’t be crying  _ this  _ much. Yeah, he cried a little while a god, but about every month or two. When he cried now, he wasn’t even  _ sad: _ he was just...crying. He didn’t know why he was crying. But he was. Like: all John told him was that he had been an asshole, why would that make him cry? It should’ve been John crying, if anything.

But still, he continued. And he didn’t think he could stop.

That was, until, two campers emerged from the woods ahead of him, staring directly at him.

He froze. The two parties stared at each other, rooted to the ground. Poseidon was still crying, but it was somewhat out-of-body, completely paralized as he stared at the two campers.

It was different if it was Hades or Zeus or even Percy that saw him cry. But these two campers were none of the listed three: a boy and a girl, about 17-18, almost completely unfamiliar to Poseidon. He thought me might’ve seen the girl training once, or the guy at meal times, but overall he didn’t know them the slightest bit. The dude was tall and lean, with bright orange hair and the palest skin Poseidon had ever seen in his life, while the girl was on the shorter side, with tawny hair and a more athletic build. Needless to say, they were not the people he wanted to encounter. Not that he wanted to encounter anyone.

“Oh my gods,” the girl finally broke the silence. “You’re Poseidon, aren’t you? Oh my gods, why are you crying?”

Poseidon broke out of his shock and stood, frantically brushing his tears away. “Um...I uh...I’m not.” He cringed.  _ Great one there, buddy. _

“Hey, wait!” He felt someone grab his arm, and instinctively forced it back to his side. He turned around anyway, though. It was the guy that grabbed it. “What’s wrong?” he asked, eyes wide. “You can’t just sob like your dog just died and not tell us what’s going on.”

“I can very much do that, thank you,” Poseidon responded. He turned back around and started walking. The cry was relieving enough, he could go back to the infirmary now. Even if it still looked like he was crying. They probably knew he was, anyway. He didn't feel the need to spill his guts to two random strangers.

“Hey, hey, hey.” The guy ran up to stand in front of him, blocking his way. Poseidon let out an irritated breath. Was everyone at the goddamn camp tall? The boy continued. “Seriously, what’s up? We're nice, you can talk to us.” He paused, looking to debate his next words. “Especially us.”

Poseidon raised an eyebrow, though he thought the effect was a little dulled because he hiccuped and more snot ran out of his nose. “Why you?”

The boy looked at the girl for a moment, and it took a few seconds before the boy gave a miniscule smile then morphed his face back to concern as he looked down at Poseidon. “Because we care about you.”

Okay, red flag. “Who are you?” he blurted. “I don’t even know you.”

“But you could,” the girl said. She walked up to stand next to the boy, a soft smile on her face. She wasn’t bad-looking, but she wasn’t Kim Kardashian or anything. Poseidon thought she had a nice smile, if anything. “We just want to help. We’ve seen the way some other campers treat you, and it hurts us, too.” Poseidon refrained from cringing at that. “We think that we could be friends with you, if that’s good with you? Especially after this. We didn’t know it was this bad. Sorry if we’re being forward.”

  
Poseidon did not accept the apology. He was very, very much stuck. First of all: he met these people a total of 30 seconds ago, and now they were asking to be best buddies, and second of all: what the fuck was he supposed to say? He wanted to say no, which just filled him with more doubt that he was an asshole, but he also got a very, very bad vibe from these two. I mean, what the fuck were they doing in the woods? Like—wasn’t that off limits? 

He didn’t mention it, instead blurting: “Sorry, I gotta go.” He rushed passed the boy so quickly you would think a wild animal with a sweet tooth for gods of the sea was hot on his heels. He could feel the awkwardness he left behind him, but couldn’t bring himself to care, speed-walking faster than he ever had in his life.

When he got to the infirmary, Will greeted him and then sat him down immediately, slathering more of the contents of the bottle all over his nose. Poseidon was learning quite quickly that Will Solace was very mom-like, and in more ways than one. Not only was he caring, but he was also extremely scolding and resembled very much a mother hen. John awkwardly apologized and explained that he was scared he was going to get fired if Will found out that he had said that stuff, which Poseidon responded to with an equally awkward acceptance. He was still reluctant to say the least: the boy didn’t seem like too great of a person, even if he didn’t say what he said to Poseidon. But nonetheless, he’d be more of an asshole if he said no, so he relented. 

The rest of the two hours he spent in the infirmary were awkward to say the least. Will had tasked him with designing a rough copy for a poster that they were going to use to explain what the infirmary was to the new campers, and it was truly then that he realized he was absolutely shit at art. Nonetheless, it was kind of fun, even if there was an awkwardness in the air the whole time. He spent the whole designing process thinking of another situation, however: those two kids he’d encountered by the big house.

To be honest, one of the biggest things he was still thinking about was why they were in the woods (the conclusions Poseidon made made him throw up in his mouth a little). But overall, the main one was why they were so forward, specifically on being his friends. Was it just because he was Poseidon? Or did they just have a habit of picking up crying people as friends?

The conclusion came to him as he was walking to dinner that evening, half with the infirmary people but mostly just Will. They weren’t really talking—well, Will was, but not directly to him—and Poseidon had some more time to think about the two kids.

He thought back to that night where Chiron assigned them with tasks, and what he’d said to Poseidon when he held him back. That some kids had taken a certain interest in him...He frowned, contemplating. He had expected them to be a little uglier. That sounded mean, but like. He assumed the more attractive people would shoot their shot with Zeus or even Hades, not to sound like he was fishing for compliments. Even though this was in his head. And no one would think he was fishing for compliments. 

It wasn’t that they were extremely attractive, but the boy was quite good-looking. And Poseidon supposed his judgment may be a little clouded: he often had ungodly beautiful people either surrounding him or as his companions. Or, well—godly beautiful. He might just have high expectations.

They did fit the descriptions though, Poseidon thought. He narrowed his eyes slightly. They were  _ definitely _ moving fast…But why would they both be trying to get him if they’re friends? Wouldn’t that lead to fights or something? It didn't make sense.

Poseidon didn’t know how to feel about this whole thing. So far, that’s four people in total that have shown interest in him, if his assumptions were correct. At first he hadn’t believed it, but now he just didn’t know why. It’s not that he had crippling low self-esteem, it’s just that, well...there were better options. And these people had never even talked to him before. Sure, Poseidon was attracted to people he’s never talked to before, but that was if they were attractive. He supposed he might be attractive to some gay guys, but he didn’t know a girl in the world that liked 5’8 skinny boys that cry and can’t do pushups.

But still, unless Chiron somehow gained a lack of proper judgment since the last time Poseidon saw him, he knew that the campers that informed him were telling the truth.

There was also something about it that made him uncomfortable. In the back of his mind, he knew that if people liked him without talking to him, they were most likely just in it for sex. His younger self preferred that by a million miles, but something about it made him uncomfortable now. Maybe he was just overthinking it and they assumed he had a personality that they liked, or maybe they were just overly protective people that didn’t want to see him upset anymore. Kinda like Hades.

He was still thinking about it as they approached the pavilion. Zeus, Hades, Nico, and Hazel were already sat down with their food. Most of the seats at the table were still vacant, so Poseidon just assumed they were hungry. He was too: he hadn’t eaten anything since last night.

Will gave him a weird shoulder-shake thing where he placed a hand on Poseidon’s shoulder and jiggled it, wishing him goodbye and a good night. Poseidon returned it, and Will walked over to kiss the top of Nico’s head. Nico grumbled and turned red as he walked away with his siblings, and Poseidon sat down. Hazel and Nico were across from him, and he and Zeus were separated by Hades. They all greeted him, which Poseidon returned. As if today wasn’t awkward enough, more tension filled the air between the big three, Zeus’ outburst last night still fresh on all of their minds. Well—Poseidon assumed it was on all of their minds. You know when you can kinda just guess that the other person is thinking what you’re thinking? Yeah, kinda like that.

“So,” Hades broke the silence. Poseidon assumed it was an attempt to ease the tension, “you and Will are quite friendly.”

“Oh my gods, Dad,” Nico mumbled, head hanging to hide his red face. Zeus laughed a little, and Poseidon smiled fondly at the boy.

“Oh, stop,” Hazel said, eyes sparkling and a smile on her face. “You’re embarrassing him.”

“I’m not embarrassed,” Nico said, looking up and flourishing his fork. His face was the equivalent of a tomato.

“Oh sure you aren’t,” Poseidon said, knowing his own eyes were twinkling. They always did when he poked at someone, he’d been told.

Nico hid his face again and shook his head, stabbing his mash potatoes. “Shut up.” It was mumbled again.

Poseidon let out a little chuckle, and a little tension spilled from the air. He ordered some pizza, and had to restrain himself from tearing into it right away. They still had to sacrifice. He wasn’t sure how the campers decided when to sacrifice, but they all seemed to get up at the same time, with no warning or signal. Poseidon just got up when everyone else did, following the grain. 

It was only a few more moments before that exact thing happened, and he brought some pizza over. He wasn’t exactly sure how to sacrifice pizza, so he just took some of the more fluffy crust off and threw it in. He waited for everyone else, and then they made their way back to the table.

The rest of dinner was spent with small talk, but the argument was still on the forefront of Poseidon’s mind. Admittedly, it still bothered him a little bit, but he was mostly bothered by the fact it was so awkward. He didn’t want it to be awkward.

After dinner, they made their way to the campfire with the rest of camp. Thankfully there were no incidents yet again, and none throughout it as well. Poseidon swayed a little in the dim light, but he didn’t sing or dance like some campers. He didn’t stand out for it either: about half sang, and half didn’t. It was only the ones worshipping the gods where they all sang, and Poseidon felt half uncomfortable and half proud. They were technically singing about him, and the lyrics made it seem like he was the best thing to grace the earth. It was kind of cultish and creepy, but he appreciated it anyway. It made him smile a little, if anything.

At the end of the campfire, Zeus said: “Sorry for storming off yesterday.”

“It’s alright,” Poseidon responded quietly. He hoped he could hear it over the bustle of the crowd.

A beat of silence. "And saying that you're sensitive," he continued.

"It's okay."

Zeus nodded, and they walked in silence for a moment, weaving their way through the crowd heading to their cabins. After another moment of hesitation, Zeus brought an arm up around his shoulders. Poseidon smiled. Hades did it all the time, but with Zeus it was different. He didn’t like to show any kind of weakness, and he thought that physical affection was just that. It made Poseidon feel a little warm and fuzzy whenever he did it, if that wasn’t weird to say. He saw Hades glance at them from the corner of his eye, but he couldn’t make out the look in his eyes. It was odd: something Poseidon had never seen before. Or perhaps he had, just not seen it enough to recognize it.

He didn’t let it bother him too much though, because just after that, he smiled. Poseidon followed his example, leaning a little into Zeus as he walked. It was easier to ignore the stares they got when he did that. A lot of things were easier when he did that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the two people aren't actually gonna be main roles, they are just to kind of fully introduce the people liking Poseidon thing! that isn't going to be a main plot point until a little later on I think, but might as well introduce it.
> 
> and remember recommend stuff instead of OC's! also anything you want to see in general. If y'all want the infirmary thing to stop I can think of a way lol. just tell me!! I don't like not knowing if y'all like this or not


	6. like a button (bitch)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Poseidon gets a day off at the infirmary and spends it with Dad Idiot TM

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey yall!!! sorry for the delay again, schools been a bitch recently. I do kinda like this chapter doe, it's kinda short but pretty snazzy. I mostly like it cuz of the hasidon implications hint hint wink wink  
> This doesn't have a lot of Zeus in it again :(((((( But he's like,,,really, really prominent in the next chapter so don worry. its kinda weird starting out cuz I need to lay everything out first and then we can really get into the thick of things  
> so yee!!! enjoy dis chapter.  
> (PS I got some new jeans today and they're pretty snazzy. idk why I told u that I jus like my new jeans. I also got two new shirts and they're also snazzy. I also got them with my own money too so that's even snazzier).

“Poseidon.”

Poseidon looked up from his toast. “Hm?” 

It was Will. He was standing beside the Big Three table, smiling as usual. He had his lab coat on already, and a roll of medical tape was in his left hand. He looked as bright and sunny as ever, teeth a little blinding in the direct sun. Poseidon thought he must’ve been one of those people that brushed their teeth for five minutes straight and flossed everyday.

“It’s me,” he said, brightly but not overbearingly. Poseidon wasn’t sure if he was capable of saying something not-brightly. “I just wanted to tell you that it’s your day off, we decided on Thursday for you. Is that good? We can always make arrangements, and you might get some other days off randomly if it’s slow, but overall that fits the schedule best. Is that alright?”

Poseidon squinted up at him and smiled. “Yep, that’s fine. Thanks.” 

Will gave another smile and a nod. “Alright, perfect. I’m just about to head up, remind Nico to eat for me, yeah?”

Poseidon nodded. “Yep. Have a good day at the infirmary.”

“Thanks, bud.” Will gave him a shoulder pat as he walked by, and Poseidon went back to his toast.  _ Bud. Hm. _ Like a rose bud or short for buddy? Poseidon had used the word before, but hearing it from someone else was different. He hadn’t actually thought about what it meant.

Nonetheless, this was a pleasant surprise. He’d have some time off, maybe to cool himself down before trying to start fresh Friday. Well—maybe Monday. Friday was kind of a weird day for new beginnings. Still: if his relationship with everyone in the infirmary except Will stayed this way, he didn’t know how much longer he could last. He already felt like an outsider at camp, but the infirmary just took it to a whole new level. It felt so established, and he was just butting in and messing up the program. He had also thought a little about what John had said, and if Chiron really did just not know anywhere else to put him...Could he truly not do anything but count the supplies? He knew he didn’t have healing powers but he hadn’t thought they used those for everything…

He had also thought about the other things John had said, about him being an asshole. It started off with him just thinking about that day: the way he’d slept in then made them heal him, and then to top it off, stormed off crying like he was the victim of the whole thing. But then it had ventured further, curling out to his entire stay at camp like spilled ink on parchment. He thought about how he hadn’t talked to anyone, dreaded sacrificing, found their worship songs creepy...And then that ink had dripped off the parchment and to the floor, throwing him deeper into self-doubt. Yeah, he needed to leave his lovers for technical reasons, but did that make up for it? He didn’t raise Percy, didn’t raise him at all...Left it all to Sally. Not only to raise a son, but to raise a son of a god. A son of one of the big three at that. He knew Sally held no grudge against him, but if he were in her shoes he would. Just thinking about what he’d thought about now made his stomach curl. Had he even apologized to Percy or Sally? He didn’t think he had...He cringed at the amount of times Percy comforted him, when it should’ve been the opposite. He just looked like a big, asshole of a baby looking back.

Hades must’ve noticed the sudden frown on his face, because he swallowed some of his french toast and then reached over, placing a hand on Poseidon’s wrist. Poseidon looked up, ridding of his frown and eyebrows shooting up a little. Hades had concern in his eyes, lips tugged into a worried frown. “What’s wrong?”

“Oh,” Poseidon said, taking some more toast, “nothing. Just tired.”

“You sure?”

Poseidon smiled. “Yeah.”

“Alright.” Hades let go of his wrist.

Poseidon went back to thinking, even as Zeus gave him a comforting shoulder bump from beside him. He couldn’t change the past, he supposed, but he could change the future…He could at least be nicer, if anything. “Thanks for asking, though."

Hades looked a little surprised for a second, before his face relaxed and fell into a smile. “Of course.”

Poseidon nodded, smiling a little himself as well. He’d just have to be nicer. Improve himself. Maybe if he was nicer, people wouldn’t be as annoyed with him crying all the time.

“So what are you going to do today?” Zeus asked. 

“Hm?” Poseidon hummed, ordering more toast.

“You have the day off. What are you gonna do?”

“Oh,” Poseidon said, taking a bite. He thought a little bit while he chewed. “I don’t know.”

“You can discuss with me and the Ares and Athena cabins if you’d like,” Zeus offered, lathering more syrup on his waffles. “You’d be with me.”

“Or you could come with me,” Hades blurted. Poseidon looked up, eyebrows twitching but not quite raising. It was a little louder than he’d usually say it. “It shouldn’t be just Chiron, Dionysus, and I making the decisions, after all.” His volume was back to normal and he was smiling.

Poseidon frowned a little, glancing between the two. That was the problem with trios: pairs were always a mess. If he picked one the other might be angry or sad…

Zeus shrugged. “That might be better. You can come with me another time, maybe.”

Poseidon internally sighed in relief. “Okay, sure.” He picked up his toast again. “I’ll go with you Hades.”

Hades smiled and missed his french toast when he went to pick some up, instead stabbing his plate. Poseidon snickered a little and Zeus jumped. “Jesus,” he muttered under his breath.

“Sorry,” Hades said. It had been awhile since Poseidon had seen him sheepish. 

He glanced around at the other campers. Sometimes Hazel joined them and sometimes she didn’t, today was one of the days she didn’t. Nico never did, but that kind of made sense to Poseidon. He didn’t think anyone could be that thin while eating three healthy meals a day. Vaguely, he wondered if Nico had some of the same issues as him. He didn’t think Nico was ugly...but then again, Nico did look rather much like Hades, so his face kind of saved him. Besides, he wouldn’t care about girls finding him attractive, anyway.

He had strawberry jam on his bread, and it was quite tasty if he did say so himself. He had thankfully woken up at a normal time this morning, though it had taken him a while to fall asleep. Breakfast was the loosest time period, starting at 6 and ending at 10. So while the pavilion was never really empty, it was never full either. Poseidon thought the time he came was probably the most popular, around 8:30 ish. Nine might’ve been a little busier.

It was only a few minutes later that found Hades done, taking one last sip of his orange juice and then standing up. “You ready?”

Poseidon looked up at him, then chewed his toast more aggressively. “Yep,” he said through a mouthful of bread. He stood and pushed the bench back a little, making Zeus grunt and swat at him. 

“Alright, let’s go,” Hades said. He placed his orange juice down and the contents of his plate and cup disappeared. Poseidon took his piece of toast with him and swatted back at Zeus just for fun.

Zeus threw some waffle crumbs at him and Poseidon laughed, dodging. The syrup covered dough fell to the ground, and Hades gave them a bemused smile. Poseidon half-jogged to catch up with him, and the two headed up to the big house. Poseidon gave a little wave at Zeus and said “Bye!”, but he was already invested back into his waffles and looked quite comical when looking back at Poseidon with wide, surprised eyes, mouth dripping with syrup.

“Gwmphbi!!!” he attempted to respond.

Poseidon just laughed and turned back to the land ahead of him. Hades called a “Bye!” over his shoulder, and then followed Poseidon’s lead. The air was fresh and crisp in the mornings, but the breeze was always warm. The sun was on its way to the top of the sky, just right at the perfect height where it was out of Poseidon’s eyes and not quite high enough to beat down on the top of his head. The grass was a little soft under his feet from the dew still lingering on the strands, the sun warming his face like an oven.

Hades raised an arm and slinked it around Poseidon’s shoulders. Poseidon looked up at him for a moment, but he was looking ahead casually so he looked back too, smiling. It was usually awkward for people to wrap their arms around his shoulders: afterall, he was actually fairly tall when in his usual form, but now he fit quite perfectly under Hades’ arm. He guessed that he would in usual form, too because it was the same height difference. Something about him liked that, something about him didn’t. He didn’t know why for either.

“What are we gonna do together?” Poseidon asked, breaking the silence.

“What?” 

“With Chiron.” Poseidon looked up to meet his eyes. “Like—are we just going to plan lessons?”

Hades looked back ahead. “Oh yeah, I think so. That’s what we’ve been doing.”

“Alright.”

There were a few moments of silence. Poseidon continued to take in and enjoy the scenery: Camp was really quite beautiful when you don't consider the people. The skies were always blue, the grass always green and the flowers always blooming. He couldn’t see the lake, but he knew it would be glittering, a few campers barely visible in the sparkle of sun as they canoed. The sparkles would look very much like diamonds resting on top of the water, reflections bright and blinding. He’d seen it many times before.

“I’ve been meaning to ask you something, actually.”

Poseidon looked up at Hades, eyebrows raised a little bit. He didn’t sound angry, but a little dread pooled in Poseidon’s gut. Those words never usually ended good. “Yeah? What is it?”

“It’s about what Chiron told you that night he assigned us jobs.” He was looking ahead, but Poseidon didn’t feel like he was paying any less attention to him. In fact, a sudden sense of dread filled him that perhaps he was paying  _ too _ much attention to him. “Have any campers tried to make any...er, moves on you? I’ve just noticed you’re a little um…” he suddenly looked awkward, “...more uncomfortable around some people lately.”

Poseidon looked up at him, one eyebrow raised. “What do you mean?”

“Well,” Hades said, contemplating his words, “I just noticed that night when we had that fight at the campfire. Those two girls...they seemed to make you more uncomfortable than you’d usually be around interested women. Is the...idea of what Chiron told you bothering you?”

Poseidon was glad for the rephrased question. For some reason, he didn’t want to tell Hades about the two kids he’d encountered yesterday. It felt taboo, though for no reason. But he was fine answering that question. “A little bit,” he answered honestly, “but I think it was just because they were so…”

“Objectifying?”

“I guess, yeah.” Poseidon had never heard of a man being objectified, but that’s what it felt like.

Hades hummed. “Alright. Let me know if anything happens though, alright?”

“Alright.”

“Promise?”

Poseidon hesitated. He didn’t like breaking promises. Did not telling him about the two kids yesterday count as doing so? “Promise.” He’d tell him later.

Hades squeezed his shoulder, and Poseidon subconsciously moved closer towards him.

They were almost at the big house now: the steps only a few yards away. Poseidon refrained from biting his nails, suddenly anxious. They hadn’t told Chiron or Dionysus about this...would they be mad? Poseidon didn’t think Chiron would be, but Dionysus had never liked him very much…

He didn’t have a whole lot of time to rethink his decision, because soon they were already up the stairs, and Hades was knocking on the door. There was a sound similar to footsteps, but it was as if the person was wearing the heaviest pair of wooden shoes in the world.  _ Clunk. Clunk. Clunk. _

Poseidon wasn’t expecting the door to open so swiftly, and almost jumped at the sudden merging of gleaming coat and human skin right in front of his face. He craned his neck to look up at Chiron, eyes wide. He had never been so close to him before.

Chiron met his eyes, and they were equally as surprised as his were. “Poseidon!” he said heartily. “What a lovely surprise. What are you doing here?”

“I had a day off from the infirmary.” His voice cracked, and he cringed. Why a teenager? Why was that necessary?

“Ah yes,” Chiron said, walking back from the door. “I had forgotten about those days. Welcome in. You too, Hades.”

Hades gestured, and Poseidon went in first. Hades walked in behind him and closed the door with a click, cutting off the little breeze that had been blowing. It was a little stuffy in here, with the countless things lining the walls and the dusty furniture, but it was homely. It looked the exact same as it had the night Chiron assigned them jobs, if not a little nicer. The light overhead wasn’t on, instead the curtains pulled, letting in natural golden sunlight and highlighting little dust particles around the room. The walls were now coloured golden, and the jars were visible as their actual colours instead of just murky black. Emerald green, forest green, wine red, royal purple...Poseidon thought it was all rather pretty.

“What’s Pissinhim doing here?”

“Dionysus,” Chiron scolded. He trotted further inside to allow more room for Hades and Poseidon. “No inappropriate language, you know this.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Dionysus said, removing a hand from his stack of cards and waving it.

“He’s here to help, I presume.” Chiron looked back at him, and Poseidon nodded in confirmation. Chiron gave him a small smile, turning back to Dionysus. “He has a day off at the infirmary.”

“Already?” Dionysus asked, snorting. “You must be some good.”

Poseidon rocked back and forth on his heels uncomfortably. Both he and Zeus thought exiling Dionysus would make him stop acting like this, but it had only made him worse apparently.

“Back off, kid,” Hades warned.

Dionysus glanced at him for a moment, then looked back at his cards, making a face. “Whatever, Hemorrhoids.”

Hades only rolled his eyes.

“Sit wherever you’d like,” Chiron said. “We shall get started right away. Poseidon, I’m sure you’ll catch on quite quickly.”

Poseidon and Hades nodded, and both took the couch. Poseidon marvelled a little bit at how it had only been a month or so prior that found them reluctantly sharing the same  _ room _ as one another. Now cuddling was a normal occurrence. If you had told Poseidon he would be openly cuddling with Hades a month and a half ago, he’d...well, he’d probably drown you. The couch was plush, and squished under Poseidon’s weight, letting out a soft whistle sound. It was bright red, but broken up in some places so you could see the yellowish sponge. 

“Would you like tea or coffee?” Chiron asked, already at the coffee pot. 

“A coffee for me, please,” Hades said, hands folded politely in his lap. 

Poseidon looked at his posture and mimicked it, a little uncomfortable. “Uh, me too please. One sugar.”

Chiron showed no indication of hearing them, but still pulled out three cups. “And you, Dionysus?”

“You know the answer, Horse Man.”

Chiron hummed. “Indeed I do.” He jerked his head towards Poseidon and Hades to indicate he was addressing them. “Dear Dionysus is rather bitter of the ban his father has put on him regarding alcohol.” He started pouring the dark liquid into the three mugs. “Perhaps as a method of retaliation, he doesn’t drink anything other than Coca-Cola. It’s as if he’s on strike.”

Dionysus sniffed but did not comment, shuffling more cards. Poseidon wondered what he was doing. He had never heard of playing cards by yourself.

Chiron scooped a spoonful of sugar into one mug, and two in another. He balanced one cup between two and then brought them over, and Poseidon’s eyes were glued to it, waiting for it to tip over and spill.

It did not. Chiron told him to take the middle one. He did so, and then Chiron gave Hades the one in his left hand while keeping the one in the right for himself. Poseidon was surprised that he liked sugar in his coffee: he had always assumed that he liked it black. Well, he had never thought about it, but if he had random trivia on Chiron, he would’ve guessed he’d like black coffee. He just seemed like that kind of guy.

“So, where were we?” Chiron asked. He placed his cup on the table along the back wall and then folded his legs. Poseidon had seen him do it countless times before, but still found it fascinating every time. It was weird to see so much mass sit down so easily on those legs. He supposed he knew it was possible: he had designed horses, after all, but it was still weird to see. He was about the height of an average person when sitting down, maybe a little shorter. He grabbed a binder off the table and opened it, grabbing a bench-like stool and placing it in front of him like a table. He placed the binder on top of it, and the bench was long enough to where it looked like a normal man standing behind his desk, rather than a centaur sitting down. “I believe we were going more in depth about the English/Greek lessons, yes?”

Hades nodded. “Yes, I believe that’s right. We were wondering about potential translations of Shakespeare.”

Chiron hummed. “Indeed. Ah yes, here we are.” He stopped flipping and placed a finger on a sheet of loose-leaf. “Right here: ‘discuss books tomorrow - Shakespear’.”

“‘K, awesome.” Hades turned to Poseidon. “So basically all we do is go through potential options, decide whether it’s a yes or a no, and then move on to other ones. This is only our second day of planning English—well, Greek lessons. The first day we just spent working on an overview of the lessons we were going to plan.”

“Alright,” Poseidon said. He nodded to make sure they knew he understood.

“So,” Chiron said, smiling, “what are our thoughts on Shakespear? I’m sure we can get a parent or mortal-passing demigod to go and fetch a translated supply for us if we choose to pursue it.”

Hades took a sip of his coffee. “I don’t know. I feel like there are other educational books that cater to the demigod’s lifestyle more. After all, many demigods are not able to coexist with mortals, so there is no need to follow a mortal education system. Though Shakespear is classic, I feel like they would benefit highly from other books, perhaps like the Iliad or Odyssey. However, if we are focusing on just giving them a standard education so they  _ can _ exist among mortals, Shakespeare would be ideal.”

Chiron nodded, stroking his beard. “I suppose we should prioritize the majority—most children here can’t and never will be able to exist in the mortal world. Of course, perhaps the children of Demeter or Aphrodite, but many of those campers have grown up here their whole lives, I can’t imagine they’d want to leave it behind for such a mundane world.” He paused for a moment. “However I’m not sure if they would like the Iliad, especially when it shows many of their parents in a light they would not like to see...What are your thoughts, Poseidon?”

Poseidon was in the middle of sipping his coffee, and raised his eyebrows. _Oh._ _They actually want my input._ He thought Hades was saying “help” to be nice, and he was actually just going to sit there and listen quietly. He swallowed quickly, the liquid burning his throat on the way down. He coughed a little, then cleared his throat a few times in an attempt to get rid of the gravelly feeling that the steaming coffee had left behind. His cheeks warmed up. “I guess it would be nice for them to know the truth about their parents' nature,” he said finally, as if he had actually thought about it. “But maybe there should be an age limit of who can read it.”

Hades nodded in agreement. “That’s a good idea. I wouldn’t want the kids to grow up with a grudge against their parents, but I think they deserve to know what we were like back then. Perhaps it should be mandatory to emphasize that we have changed, though. I’m sure the Apollo kids will not appreciate any comments of their father guiding arrows to kill people, nor will Mr. Jackson appreciate any comments of his father’s…” he glanced at Poseidon, “—creations, in the Odyssey.”

Poseidon’s cheeks heated a little. 

“Hm,” Chiron hummed, hand moving swiftly across the paper. “So we have all agreed no Shakespear, but the Iliad and the Odyssey? What are your thoughts on the Aeneid?”

“I don’t see why not.” Hades shrugged lightly, coffee cup still between his palms.

“Splendid,” Chiron said, writing more stuff down. Poseidon couldn't see the sheet very well, but he did see flowing, loopy handwriting. “What should the age be? I was thinking perhaps 16. Many demigods are fully mature by then.”

Poseidon thought that was a little sad, but nonetheless nodded.

Hades looked a little iffy. “I don’t know, that still seems a little young to me. Though they may be mature, I do believe they can still be easily persuaded one way or another.”

“Well, we could use that to persuade them to still like us,” Poseidon argued. “Y’know, like, we just have to emphasize that we’re better now.”

“That’s true,” Hades said, albeit a little reluctantly. “Are you fine with the campers reading the Odyssey? I know you weren’t shown in the best light in that one.”

“It’s fine,” Poseidon said. “They probably know the story anyway.” They already hated him anyway.

“That’s true,” Hades repeated.

Chiron glanced between the two for a moment, a studying look in his eyes. Poseidon didn’t know what he was thinking about, but perhaps he had imagined it, because a split second later he was looking back at his page. “So the Iliad, the Odyssey, and the Aenaid, all introduced at age 16. That is fine with everyone, correct?”

Hades nodded, and Poseidon confirmed with a “yes”. Chiron nodded as well, and circled the small paragraph he had written.

“Alright, so what about children’s books? Shall we get normal mortal picture books translated, or perhaps educational ones about their heritage and mythology?”

“Well, when are we starting to give the campers educational lessons?” Poseidon asked.

Hades and Chiron glanced at each other for a moment, and then Hades turned to him. “We are not really sure, perhaps this coming summer?”

“No, no,” Poseidon said, waving a hand before cringing and wishing he hadn’t done that. “Like what age are we starting to give them the more educational lessons?”

“Oh,” Hades said, “we’re not sure about that either. Perhaps the usual age for mortal children? Although, most of camp is eight and above. I believe the mortals start at five.”

“We should have some for the few children under eight,” Chiron pondered. “Perhaps just a few beginner level ones. However I believe that we should really focus our attention on the lessons for eight and above.”

“Okay,” Poseidon said, thinking, “so we should probably do the mythology books. I can’t imagine too many eight year olds know a whole lot about Greek mythology.”

“I don’t want it all to just be about us, though,” Hades countered. “I think that’s a good idea, but let’s make sure that it doesn’t get confused with just history.”

Chiron hummed. It was silent for a moment as he scribbled down more words on the paper in front of him, the sound like the scratch of a cats paw against drywall. Poseidon continued to watch him, a little fascinated by how smoothly his hand ran across the paper, creating delicate lines and voluptuous loops. Poseidon didn’t think he could read it, but it was nice to look at. 

“I’ve written down to get both normal mortal picture books and Greek mythology ones,” Chiron said after another moment. “Perhaps we should focus on less hellenistic ones now?”

“Sure,” Hades said. Poseidon nodded, sipping some more coffee.

They went through countless books after that, and Poseidon was surprised to find himself actually enjoying it. Usually, any talk about education, specifically English or Math, made him about 50 times more grateful that he was a god and didn’t have to learn that stuff. But this was actually interesting, and he found himself talking more and more, comfortable with putting his input more than usual. It was quiet and peaceful, with respectful arguments so softly worded that they didn’t even feel like arguments in the first place. Slowly, the room lost it’s golden tinge as the sun rose up to its normal height, but it was still nice. It was a stark contrast from the infirmary, with its smell of lemon cleaner and pressed bedsheets, the tightness in the air, the stale breaths and the passing glances. Here it was rather like a cottage, even if not at first glance. Chiron’s voice was deep and soothing, and he appreciated the warmth oozing from Hades beside him. His coffee was long gone by then, and as the clock struck 12, Chiron laid down his pen. 

“I believe it is time for lunch.” 

Dionysus shot up so fast it made Poseidon jump. He had forgotten that his nephew was even there. Poseidon watched him, wide-eyed as he speed-walked out of the Big House, not bothering to close the door softly behind him. It crashed with a bang, and Poseidon turned to Chiron for an explanation.

He had amusement twinkling in his eyes. “Dear Dionysus very much enjoys lunch, he considers it the best meal of the day.” He stood slowly, stretching out his strong, burly legs. Poseidon watched him rise, waiting for him to continue. He did. “Would you two like to stay here or eat at the pavilion? Do not feel pressured, but I have a few sandwiches if you’d like. I’m afraid I went overboard on packing myself lunches and packed a few too many.”

Poseidon looked at Hades, who gave a small shrug of the shoulders. “I wouldn’t mind eating in here,” he said.

Poseidon nodded. He had hoped he would say that: he didn’t really want to leave this place. “Neither would I.”

Chiron gave a small smile and nod, walking out from behind his bench and to a small fridge in the corner. Poseidon hadn’t even noticed it was there. “There’s bologna, ham, and turkey. Which would you two prefer?”

“Turkey for me, please,” Hades said.

Poseidon didn’t have a preference, so just panicked and picked the first one that came to his head. “Um, and Ham for me, thanks.”

Chiron nodded, already halfway to the fridge. “Then I suppose I’ll have a bologna.” It was muttered mostly to himself.

He opened the fridge and Poseidon waited patiently. Faintly, he could hear campers in the distance, talking, laughing, playing sports. He had a vague feeling of isolation, bundled up in the Big House, nowhere to be seen by the rest of the residents of Camp. He wondered if they noticed he was gone. Probably not. He had skipped breakfast and lunch yesterday and no one had mentioned anything. In the back of Poseidon’s mind, he wondered if Chiron had purposefully let them get away with skipping two meals yesterday, or if he simply forgotten about it. He wasn’t going to mention it regardless.

Zeus would notice, though. Poseidon felt a little guilt wash over him: he would be left alone with the two children of Hades. It wasn’t like the three didn’t get along, but Poseidon didn’t think they’d ever been alone before. Well—actually, they would’ve been yesterday. So maybe they were fine now. Poseidon hoped they were.

Chiron brought over the sandwhiches, and Poseidon took his with a smile and a “thanks”. Hades mimicked him, and Poseidon took the sandwich out of the saran wrap it was in. It was on thick, Italian bread, and Poseidon thought he saw mustard and mozzarella cheese on it too. He hadn’t expected that: he thought it was just gonna be an average ham sandwich. He wasn’t complaining.

“Unfortunately I do have to attend lunch to supervise. I’ve missed enough meals already, even if by accident.” He looked at Hades with sparkling eyes. Poseidon’s jaw twitched, and his brow furrowed almost immediately after.  _ What was that?  _ “I trust you two to not mess up anything too bad while I’m gone, hm?” He picked up a pullover sweater and pulled it on. Poseidon supposed the campers wouldn’t want to see their director shirtless, even if that was how he was supposed to be.

“We’ll try,” Hades jested.

Chiron gave a short, deep laugh, and then leaned down to exit through the front door, closing it softly behind him.

There was a sort of heavy silence as he left, falling over the room like a mound of feathers. It wasn’t as if Chiron was loud, but it was like his presence was. The silence pressed against Poseidon’s ears, making everything muffled and far away. He took a bite of his sandwich, and there was a long moment of silence before Hades spoke.

“So what do you think so far?”

Poseidon looked at him, halfway through taking a bite. He chewed quickly and swallowed heavily, it hurting a little on the way down. “Pretty cool,” he responded. It had been. It was quite interesting, too. “I didn’t expect it to be so interesting.”

Hades hummed. “Yeah, admittedly I thought it was going to be boring at first, too.” He took another bite of his sandwich.

Poseidon hummed back. For another moment, they sat in silence again, both eating their sandwiches in peace. They were quite good: Poseidon had always liked sandwiches, even if they were basic. Especially when someone else made it for him. He supposed that was true for all foods: everything tasted better when someone else made it for you. Hades got halfway through his, and then lifted his arm so it rested on the back of the couch and brushed against the nape of Poseidon’s neck. Poseidon shifted a little closer and rested his head on Hades’ shoulder, staring mindlessly at the open binder but not really seeing it. Hades smelled like the deodorant the camp provided, as well as their shampoo. It was a somewhat odd scent combination: the shampoo was lemony and the deodorant was...well, deodorant. The smell of deodorant that’s supposed to be scentless. Poseidon wondered who picked those out. Maybe they were just the cheapest. They smelled good enough, anyway.

Hades brought his hand down to rest it on Poseidon’s shoulder, giving it a little squeeze. Poseidon smiled, closing his eyes. He hadn’t realized he was tired. He supposed he hadn’t gotten much sleep last night, so it made sense.

  
He opened his eyes again when he felt Hades staring at him. He looked up, a little concern filling him. “What’s wrong?”

Hades looked away, and Poseidon thought he saw a faint dusting of pink across the tips of his ears. “Nothing, I was just checking to see if you were asleep.”

“Oh,” Poseidon laughed softly. “Nah, I’m not that tired. Just…” he relaxed his cheek against Hades’ shoulder and let his eyes drift closed again, “tired enough.”

Hades hummed, and gave his shoulder another squeeze. Poseidon continued to eat his sandwich with his eyes closed, only missing his mouth a few times. He was kind of sad when it was gone: there was still a little time before lunch ended, and it would be spent without food.

“You’re cute.” It was blurted and curt, too loud and sudden from the previous silence.

Poseidon opened his eyes and looked at Hades, who now had a visible blush on his cheeks. “What?”

“Like a button,” he explained, words running together a little bit. “You’re cute like a button.”

_ A cold, dark cave. White-blonde hair, eyes a mix of blue, green, brown, grey, and violet. A knife. A scream. A wicked smile. _ Poseidon’s heart rate picked up. He shoved the thoughts out of his mind with force, locking them back into their cage. He was used to that kind of stuff: he got countless after the first titan war, for centuries. Instead of focusing on them, he wrinkled his nose and nudged Hades, a little blush of his own tingling on his cheeks. “No I’m not.” He wasn’t: he was a king. Kings weren’t cute. 

“Yeah you are,” Hades said, not looking at him but smiling. There was a beat of silence. “Just like a button.”

Poseidon didn’t deny further, instead smiling a little bit, trying to suppress it but failing. A little fuzziness worked up in his chest. He’d never been called cute before in that context: always the cute in the attractive way when he was how he usually looked. Well—that was, not by anyone he wanted to be called it by. It felt somewhat like an attack on his masculinity, but he didn’t have a choice to not ignore that, because his face felt the need to split in two from smiling so much.

They were both left like that for the remainder of lunch: smiling like idiots with blushes on their faces, though for different reasons. They were like that when Chiron and Dionysus came back, too. They both showed no indication of noticing, other than perhaps a slight lift of Chiron’s eyebrows.

Hades kept his arm around Poseidon for the rest of the afternoon, though their smiles did go down a little. The afternoon was just as interesting as the morning. The time flew discussing courses, timelines, books, age groups and class times. Poseidon didn’t think he’d be into that stuff, but it felt very much like his usual king duties, just translated into another environment. Before they knew it, it was dinner time, and all four occupants of the Big House were making their way to the pavilion with the rest of camp, as if all those hours were just a few minutes. At least, that’s what it felt like.

Hades still had his arm around Poseidon’s shoulders.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed!!! Again, Zeus is gonna be really prominent in the next chapter so. This chapter is basically two parts (with this one being the first one), but it could still pass as being two separate chapters so I did it that way. The next one is them at the campfire again. I hope y'all dont think this is too repetitive its gon get spicy soon don't worry. I did warn y'all that this is gonna be slow burn tho so don't attack me


	7. bruh idk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a chapter where virtually nothing happens but it explains some things and its from Hades' POV yay enjoy or die

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im so sorry for the delayed update!!!!!! my laptop decided to go bye bye so I had to use my mom's whenever she wasn't using it. it should be fine soon tho I think. (yes I have a laptop yes I am very spoiled. in my defence it was my mum's old one so)  
> also its march break and I get two weeks off after that bc of the coronavirus lets fuckin go boys  
> also my mum and my step dad broke up so that's fun I'm moving soon so yee just a little fun life update  
> also!! this chapter is from Hades' POV!!! I wasn't going to make it that way at first but I tried to write smith from Poseidon's POV and my brain went absolutely dead so yeah

**Hades POV**

“So you liked it?”

Poseidon looked at him, then looked back ahead, a small smile growing on his face. “Yeah! Time went by really fast, actually.”

Hades smiled, too. He was glad that he liked it. It wasn’t a secret that his stay at camp hadn’t been the best. Puffy eyes were never something Poseidon was good at hiding. “I know, it went by really fast the first day too. Not so much the other two days, though.” In truth, they did, he just didn’t want to make it seem like he was living the life or something. Especially not when Poseidon was getting treated so shitty. He didn’t mind it when he was: he’d been treated shitty his whole life. Poseidon was different. It hit him harder.

Poseidon laughed. “Sure they didn’t.” 

Hades smiled and looked ahead. Poseidon fit perfectly under his arm, as usual. Hades felt somewhat bad for him: he had always had the short straw on height, but now he had it rubbed in his face all the time. It would’ve been better if he wasn’t surrounded by children of gods, most of whom had inherited their parents’ godly height. A part of him did like it though. Hades felt more capable of protecting him. Not that he needed to be protected.

“What are you gonna have for supper?” Poseidon asked, leaning his head softly on Hades’ shoulder. It always tickled when he did that, but Hades tried not to let it show. He knew Poseidon would stop doing it if he did.

“I don’t know,” he admitted. He didn’t. The fettucini alfredo he’d had the other night was good, but he shouldn’t pile the pasta on too much. “Maybe a greek salad or something.”

Poseidon hummed, shifting his head a little more. Hades clenched his teeth so he wouldn’t jut his shoulder or giggle. “You should take the olives out though. Olives are nasty.”

Hades smiled, amused. The younger of the two always had been one to cling onto things. “Are they nasty or are they just the reason you lost that one time?”

Poseidon paused, and Hades’ heart skipped a beat.  _ Shit, was that a sensitive topic? You’ve never mentioned it before so maybe it is...? Shit, shit shit _ _ — _

An apology was halfway out his mouth before Poseidon nudged him and smiled. Hades let out one of the biggest breaths of his life. Subtly, of course.

“Shut up,” Poseidon said, hip-checking him lightly.

Hades brought his hand up to ruffle his hair, and Poseidon laughed, ducking. He slipped out from under Hades’ arm, and Hades was left wishing that he hadn’t. He wanted to make up for all the hugs he’d been deprived of for so many years. Not that he liked hugs, or anything.

Poseidon fell back into step with him, looking ahead. Hades remained mostly focused on what was in front of him as well, but did watch Poseidon a little bit out of the corner of his eye. He’d been doing that a lot recently. He always had, but he thought it must’ve been his wariness of how the campers treated him that made it more consistent.

It pissed Hades off. Like—a lot. Yeah, he himself hadn’t done anything bad to the campers either and he got treated like shit, but he knew of his reputation. He knew of the stories whispered about him to young children at night. A lot of these kids had grown up being told he was evil, that he was some merciless demon residing in the depths of hell. They knew him not as the god of the dead, but the god of death. And yeah—it stung a little. But it didn’t rile him up like it did with Poseidon. The same children had grown up with Poseidon glorified. They had seen his son grow up to be their saviour, their beacon of hope. They were told of his temper, yes, but they were also told of his generosity, of his care for his realm and his children. Some had seen him themselves when they were little, on their very first trip to Olympus. He would’ve given them a smile, perhaps a small wave, fishing rod and hawiaan shirt a stark contrast from the rest of the up-tight residents of the 12 thrones. It was no secret around Camp that he and young Perseus were closer than most gods and their children. 

But they hated him. And for what? Hades refused to believe it was strictly because he didn’t “look” like how they imagined Poseidon, but he had yet to think of any other explanation…

“Whatcha thinking about?” Poseidon asked, trotting along with a little bounce in his step.

Hades looked at him briefly. “Oh, nothing.”

Poseidon hummed and fell silent for a moment. The grass was not quite as soft as it had been this morning, but it was still full and green. The sun was just starting the tail end of it’s descent, and Hades knew it would be down fully before they finished their dinner. After all, the winter solstice was not so long ago.

After just a few beats too long, Poseidon spoke again. “You sure?”

Hades brung his eyes down to him. He had a faint dusting of pink on his cheeks, which seemed constant with Poseidon nowadays. He must’ve known it was noticeably too late. Hades smiled, trying to sooth his embarrassment. “Of course.”

“Okay.” It was whispered this time, but Hades didn’t think it was intentional. 

When they got to the pavilion, only Nico was there. He had chicken strips and a few fries on his plate, picking at said fries as usual. Hades wished he would eat like a normal person, but alas the boy was content with one small, unhealthy meal a day. He wondered if it drove Will crazy. It probably did.

Poseidon sat down first, and Hades took a seat on his left. He ordered french toast. He didn’t know why. He’d been planning on a salad, hadn’t he? Oh well.

“Where’s Zeus?” Poseidon asked, a small frown on his face. His bottom lip always jutted out when he frowned, but Hades didn’t think he noticed. It made him look like he was pouting all the time, which made him being upset even harder for Hades. It used to annoy him (his face was very punchable), but now it made him want to curl both him and Poseidon in a ball and never let the younger of the two see the light of day. And maybe Zeus could be a part of their ball too. Maybe.

Hades wasn’t sure if Poseidon had noticed anything, but he feared he might soon. Hades was a little confused by it himself, too, but he knew it was going on: Poseidon was none the wiser. Basically, he and Zeus were...distant. Hades hadn’t meant for it to turn out that way, how he was just as resentful of Poseidon but only grew close to him and not Zeus. They had been through the same stuff and had been together the same amount of time on this quest, but the eldest and youngest had never bonded like they had with Poseidon. This was never brought up, and in fact sometimes Hades feared it was just him thinking it, but it was there in the awkward silence whenever Poseidon wasn’t present, in the forced easiness whenever he was. It was as if they had both mutually agreed on a set of rules while never having spoken them.

  * _Don’t be in each other's presence without Poseidon._


  * If rule one is not possible, find something else to do and act like it is not awkward.


  * When Poseidon is in your presence, act like you are as close to each other as you are to him.


  * Get along for Poseidon.


  * Never vent or talk bad about Poseidon to the other person. 


  * Do not ever let on that you are not close. Poseidon will not like it.



Hades was fairly sure Zeus had this exact set of rules in his head too, but he was not sure when they were written. The only reason he was not entirely certain was because Zeus had never said it aloud: he knew it in other ways. The thick silence whenever Poseidon left them alone, the blank stares, the “hello”’s and “goodbye”’s and nothing else, the sudden over-friendliness whenever the middle brother returned. There was one instance a few weeks ago, back on the quest, that stuck out in Hades’ mind. Poseidon had been asleep, and Hades was annoyed at him for a reason he could not remember. Perhaps he had no reason. Zeus was awake, too, and Hades had taken a breath, choosing to finally open up to his brother and talk to him about what had been bothering him. 

He had gotten three sentences in before he trailed off. There was something off about Zeus while he listened, something Hades knew he would always remember vividly. The intense gaze, the too-invested body language, the gleam of what looked like victory shining in his eyes. Hades had stopped. He knew, then, what would happen. Zeus would tell Poseidon, tell him all about how Hades hated him and was annoyed by everything about him. Poseidon would cling onto Zeus: Hades would be the bad guy again and Zeus would have his ally back. It struck Hades at first, but deep down, under all his facades and under all his attempts of being a good person, he knew he would do the same.

See, the circumstances were not as simple as one would think. Both Hades and Zeus knew they were not going to be mortal forever, and if they failed to bond, they would be relying completely on Poseidon to keep peace. But, if it ever did get to the point of another war...Poseidon would need to pick a side. Neither of the two wanted another war, and neither of the two wanted Poseidon to be stuck in the middle like some sort of rope in tug-of-war, but neither of them could trust themselves either. And especially, neither of the two wanted Poseidon on the opposing side. Not just because of the plain power he had (Hades had always thought 71 percent of earth was a little much), but also because they didn’t want to fight against him anymore. At least, Hades didn’t want to. He knew Zeus didn’t either, but Hades wasn’t sure if he  _ could  _ fight against Poseidon. He would rather die than lay a hand on the younger.

“Hades?”

Hades looked up from his plate. “Hm?”

Poseidon smiled at him, amusement sparkling in his eyes. Hades had always liked his eyes. They kinda popped out at you, almost too bright underneath his eyelashes. They weren’t the same colour, but it was kind of like those huskies with ice blue eyes. They’re the first things you look at. Said eyes looked away. “Did you zone out?” 

Hades shook his head to clear it and looked away, too. “Yeah, sorry.” He laughed a little. “Where did you say Zeus was?”

“I don’t know,” Nico said, “I just said I think he must still be with the Athena and Ares cabins. Their tables aren’t as full as they usually are yet either.”

Hades nodded. Nico didn’t look at him when he spoke, he never did. Hades would like to say it didn’t bother him, but he wondered why sometimes. Did he do that with everyone or was he just uncomfortable around him? Nonetheless, he responded with a simple: “Okay.”

“I can’t decide what to get,” Poseidon claimed. His knee was bouncing. Hades wanted to put his hand on it to stop it, but refrained. Poseidon wasn’t a girl, but he probably wouldn’t appreciate it regardless. It didn’t really bother him, either. He didn’t know why he wanted to do it.

“What about a burger or something?” Hades suggested. His eyes fell to sunken cheekbones on Poseidon’s face and the skin pulled so tight around his jawline Hades could see the jaggedness of the bone. “Maybe two, even. And a few fries.” He paused. “And a milkshake?” He knew that that wasn’t the best way to gain weight: it was better done in a healthy, normal way, but Poseidon looked like he was going to fly away in the wind. It didn’t make him unattractive, per se, but it made Hades scared. He was glad when Poseidon ordered something heavier by himself, but he was always glader when he could suggest something even heavier.

Poseidon looked at him, and Hades wanted to curl into a little ball and chuck himself into Tartarus. He didn’t necessarily look sad, but Hades could tell he knew the reason Hades was saying it.  _ Shit. Take it back, dickwad. I mean—you probably couldn’t have possibly been less subtle. Asshole. _

“Why two?” Poseidon asked softly. He could feel Nico half-glaring at him.

“Um,” Hades said. _Shit, shit, shit. Why did you say that? Literally_ ** _why_** _did you say that?_ He knew Poseidon had to gain weight, but he also knew that that was probably his biggest insecurity, even above height. He needed to phrase it how he meant it: for health reasons, not for attractiveness. But he failed to do so. “I just...uh…”

Zeus saved him by giving two loud slaps, one on Hades’ shoulder and one on Poseidon’s. “Hey girls.”

Poseidon turned up to look at him, a smile breaking out on his face. Hades let out a breath and ignored the sudden heat in his gut. “Oh hey, where were you?”

“Just with the Ares and Athena cabins, we got caught up again. Sorry.” He was smiling. “Man, those kids are great. Well—some of them are iffy but overall.” He didn’t finish the sentence.

Hades watched as Zeus sat down and Poseidon leaned a little closer to him. He wanted to reach out and bring him back, but he refrained. Poseidon could do as he pleased.

“It’s fine,” Poseidon said. “So it was good?”

“Oh yeah,” Zeus responded. He looked down at his plate. “Donair pizza please.” He looked back at Poseidon and (somewhat) Hades. “We’re almost completely sure that we’ll do jousting. Everyone seems really into it, even if it isn’t Greek.”

“That’s cool,” Poseidon said. He sounded genuinely interested, voice a little higher pitched than normal. “Do you have a timeline or anything?”

“Again, not really,” Zeus said, taking a bite of his pizza before looking up sheepishly at the rest of camp and placing it down. “Just rules and teams and such. Can we sacrifice now? I’m starving.”

“It’s almost time I think,” Nico said, looking around. He was chewing on a fry. “Yeah, now.”

Just as he finished the sentence, most of camp stood up simultaneously. Hades hadn’t quite figured out how they all knew when to sacrifice, but he was sure he’d figure it out eventually. Poseidon stood and Zeus and Hades followed. Hades was careful not to stumble. Logically he knew Poseidon would be able to catch him, but his fatherly instincts were telling him that every bone in Poseidon’s body would break and he would be permanently paralyzed. As if somehow bones were weaker if the person was. Because that made sense.

Nico zoomed to the fireplace as usual and Hades contained a smile. He wished he was a little more polite, but Nico was Nico. It was kind of part of his charm.

“Poseidon, you still haven’t ordered anything,” Zeus pointed out, amusement colouring his voice.

“Hm?” Poseidon hummed, eyebrows raised as he looked back at his plate. “Oh yeah.” His cheeks coloured a reddish shade of pink. Hades contained a smile. “Uh…” Poseidon glanced up at him, and Hades made eye contact. Poseidon looked away. “Two burgers, fries, and a milkshake please.”

Guilt swirled in Hades’ gut. He sounded awfully sad saying it.  _ Apologize. _ Well...he did need to gain weight.  _ Okay, then apologize after he’s eaten all of it so he doesn’t think he doesn’t have to. Well—he doesn’t. You don’t control him. But he is really thin...Oh, whatever asshole. You were an asshole, apologize for it. End of story.  _ Hades nodded to himself. If he didn’t apologize, he would feel like shit, and he knew Poseidon would too. He’d do it at the campfire.

The food appeared on Poseidon’s plate, and Zeus raised his eyebrows. “Someone’s hungry.”

Poseidon stepped over the bench and shuffled a little. “Yeah…”

“Hey, that’s a good thing,” Zeus said, hip-checking him and smiling down at him lightly. “I wasn’t making fun of you, short-stuff.”

Hades gave Zeus a stern look, but he ignored it, purposely looking at Poseidon. Poseidon didn’t seem to mind a whole lot, and smacked him lightly, rolling his eyes. “I’m not short.” He picked up his plate full of food. “I’m just…”

“Fun sized!” someone yelled. 

Hades looked up, eyebrows furrowed. The person who said it was a girl, on the shorter side with reddish brown hair and a noticeably athletic build. There was a tall, red-headed boy behind her, grinning wide, obviously with her. Hades raised an eyebrow, making sure to look as unimpressed as possible. No one commented on Poseidon's height, let alone anyone that didn’t know him. 

Hades looked down at Poseidon to see his reaction, and his confusion only grew. He was shifting from side to side, eyes wide and darting anywhere but Zeus or Hades. “Ye...Yeah…” he stuttered lightly, rocking back and forth. In the back of Hades’ mind, he thought it was cute. Like a button. “Um, let’s go sacrifice now.”

“Is everything alright?” Hades asked at the same time as Zeus asked “Do you know them?”

“Yeah I’m good. And uh, kinda. Not really,” Poseidon stammered a little. “Actually no. No I don’t. They just...I don’t know.”

“They’re not bothering you, are they?” Hades asked, concern suddenly gripping him. He looked back up at the kids. He didn’t know Poseidon had met anyone else, let alone anyone that made him uncomfortable.

Poseidon looked up at him, and Hades caught a flash of guilt right before he looked away. His eyes narrowed. “Oh, no. No. They’re just a little, uh...overly friendly I guess.”

“Are you sure?” Hades asked. He looked back down at him. He knew Poseidon didn’t like lying.

There was a pause, and that was all Hades needed to know that Poseidon was keeping something from him. “Yeah. I’m really hungry, can we sacrifice now? Everyone’s almost done by now probably.”

Hades would talk to him about it later, but he let it go for now. “Alright.”

Hades stepped over the bench too, and the three made their way to the fire. Hades was still thinking about Poseidon’s reaction. He obviously knew them from somewhere and it didn’t seem very positive...He described them as overly friendly which lead Hades to believe they weren’t part of Riley’s little group, but perhaps they were friendly to the point of creepiness? Hades had encountered many people like that in his lifetime, and they were not his favourite type of people by any standards. Hades would almost take Poseidon being sad over Poseidon being uncomfortable. A lot of the times you can comfort sadness, but it’s hard to make someone feel comfortable when they’re not. 

He decided to let it go and scraped a little bit of his food into the fire. Zeus and Poseidon had already gone, and Nico was probably back at the table already, so the three made their way back too.

Hades was right with his prediction: Nico was back at the table, aggressively shoving fries into his mouth. Hades had to assume the boy hadn't eaten anything today, he was always eager for food at supper but he was never quite this fast. Poseidon snorted quietly.

“I’m starving,” Zeus said. “I scarfed down my food at lunch and didn’t finish it. Oh yeah—” he turned to Poseidon and Hades, wide-eyed. “Where were you guys at lunch today? You weren’t at the table.”

“We ate in the Big House,” Poseidon responded. “Sorry. Chiron had sandwiches.”

“Really good sandwiches,” Hades added. They were good.

“Oh, that’s alright,” Zeus said. “I just wanted to know where you were.”

Poseidon yawned and ran a hand through his hair. “Okay.” 

They reached their table and sat down. Poseidon looked down at his plate, and Hades pretended not to watch him, picking up his fork and knife and starting to cut up his french toast. He paid close attention to his body language; he needed to know exactly how bad he felt about being told to eat so much. Both for his apology and future reference if he ever really tried getting Poseidon to gain weight. He needed to know what kind of stuff was out of bounds. And it wasn’t like Poseidon was so thin it was a health  _ risk, _ but Hades was still scared. If any campers decided to get violent and Hades and Zeus weren’t there, Poseidon wouldn’t be able to defend himself in the slightest. And him eating a sandwich for supper really wasn’t helping matters. Hades hadn’t let it on, but Poseidon getting so full by an average plate of spaghetti the other night concerned him. He’d seen Poseidon eat meals the size of a horse before. Why had changing into a mortal affected him so much worse than Hades and Zeus?  _ Well...Poseidon ate relatively normally at the start of this shit show, before the quest, if a little less than usual...So what happened?  _

Poseidon picked up his burger, and Hades put in an extra effort to make it seem like he wasn’t looking. He took a bite. He looked fine. Hades let out a little breath.

“So Nico,” he said, trying to distract himself. He probably shouldn’t be watching every move Poseidon made, “how was your day?”

Nico looked up in surprise, a few fries dangling out of his mouth as his eyebrows raised. He started aggressively chewing his fries, and Hades thought he heard Poseidon snicker a little. Once Nico swallowed, he smiled at Hades a little sheepishly. “Oh, good thanks.”

Hades suppressed an amused smile. “That’s good. Did you hang out with Will?”

Nico nodded. “Not a whole lot but yeah. He was in the infirmary most of the day.”

“So the infirmary is shift work?” Zeus asked. Hades noticed Poseidon tense a little. He raised an eyebrow. “I always thought it was just if a patient comes in, you go kinda thing.”

“It used to be like that I think,” Nico said, picking up another fry and chewing on it thoughtfully. “Before the war. They changed to shift work because of the sheer amount of injured campers, I think. I don’t really see why they’re still doing it. Though, I haven’t asked Will so maybe there is a reason.” He shrugged.

Hades looked at Poseidon. “How is the shift work? I know you’ve only been there for a few days—well, really one and a few hours—but is it good so far?”

Poseidon seemed to think for a moment. “It’s good,” he said eventually. “A little boring at times but good. They let me do a lot of cool stuff and...stuff.”

Hades smiled. “Okay, good.” He was glad Poseidon at least had one thing he enjoyed at camp. The last thing he needed was another draining thing.

They chatted for a little more, but Hades pulled out of the conversation when Poseidon finished his first burger. He tried to be as subtle as he could, watching the younger out of the corner of his eye. He was still in deep conversation with Nico, and Hades and Zeus were happy to just somewhat listen and enjoy their meals in silence.

But now, Hades was on alert. Well—that was an exaggeration. He was just kinda making sure Poseidon wasn’t sad. In the back of his mind, he wondered if he was being creepy. Would he like someone monitoring his every move and trying to pick out every emotion? No. But at the same time, he didn’t do it all the time, and Poseidon needed that kind of stuff a little more than he did. 

Poseidon picked up his second burger. Hades watched him carefully. 

He wished he hadn’t.

Poseidon frowned, eyes casting down and face falling a little. He looked down at his torso and cast his eyes all around it, and his face fell further. He loosened the burger in his grip for a moment, and looked down at his spindly legs. He shook his head ever so slightly and then looked back at his burger.

Guilt crashed down on Hades so fast he could physically feel it. It felt like a thin metal pole being jabbed at his chest, knocking the wind out of him. His stomach churned and he gripped his utensils harder.  _ You’re half the reason he’s not enjoying camp, aren’t you? _

“Hey,” Nico said softly. Both Hades and Poseidon looked up. Zeus was already looking. Nico was staring directly at Poseidon, a rare, small smile on his face, his eyes deeper than usual. “It’s okay. You don’t have to eat it.”

Hades looked down at Poseidon, only to find him staring at Nico a little wide-eyed, now more pouting than frowning but still not quite there. He waited another beat, before: “No, it’s fine,” The shake in his voice was poorly concealed. “I’m still hungry.”

“No you’re not,” Nico said, voice still soft as a feather. “It’s okay.”

Poseidon looked back at him, eyebrows scrunched together. 

Nico gave him the most empathetic look Hades had ever seen on Nico. “Put the burger down.”

A little bit of tears developed on Poseidon’s waterline, and he did so.

Zeus looked at them all, confusion evident in his eyes. “Wh—” Hades glared at him, but Zeus only glared back. “—at’s going on?”

“Nothing,” Poseidon mumbled. “Thank you, Nico.” It sounded sincere.

“There’s no need to thank me.” The expression fell off his face and he was back to that brooding, dead look. He glanced around a little. Hades assumed it was to see if anyone saw him.

“No, hold on. What?” Zeus asked. “Did I miss something?”

Hades clenched his jaw. They never mocked each other, but there was evident satisfaction and victory in their eyes whenever the other person messed up. It drove Hades insane, even if he knew Zeus felt it with him too. It wasn’t that they were happy the other person made Poseidon upset, they were smug that the other person fucked up.

“It’s nothing, Zeus,” Poseidon said a little more forcefully. “Just drop it.”

Zeus looked down at Poseidon, and his eyes softened. It took a moment, but he finally relaxed. “Okay.”

They remained in semi-awkward silence for the rest of supper. Thankfully, the rest of supper was a grand total of probably five minutes, and all four of them stood.

A thought suddenly occurred to Hades as they stood. “Oh, where’s Hazel?” It was the first sentence anyone had spoken for a bit, so it sounded strange.

Nico snorted and tried to cover it with a cough. “Oh, she had a late lunch. She told me she was too full to eat.”

A little concern pooled in Hades’ stomach. “Is she alright?”

  
Nico waved a hand. “Yeah, she’s fine. She’ll be at the campfire I think.”

Hades nodded, a little soothed at that. Even more guilt piled in his stomach at the fact he hadn’t asked about her until now. At least she was alright.

He stepped over the bench, and Poseidon and Zeus followed. The walk to the campfire was pretty standard, if not a little more awkward than usual. Poseidon hovered noticeably below the two as always, and it made Hades smile a little. 

Hades was always relieved when the three of them were able to walk to the campfire together. Though it was rare they didn’t, Hades still had a fear that the incident with Riley would happen again. That whole situation still confused him: was the girl truly just an awful person or did she need the attention? That whole time, while rage was building up in him, he was mostly just confused. Never in his life had he seen someone talk to another person like that, let alone a mortal to a  _ god. _ It was all just baffling.

They walked to their usual spot. Up to the top. Take a left. Behind the Ares cabin, in the shadows. Hades was rather surprised no one bothered them too much at the campfire, to the point where them walking up the bleachers only attracted a few stares. In fact, most campers seemed to pay them no mind at all. Though, the first few nights they did, so perhaps they were just used to the idea by now. There were a few people that greeted Zeus on their way up, and there were those two girls the other day, but that was pretty much the extent of the attention they got.

Poseidon entered first, then Hades, then Zeus. Hades didn’t know the exact reason Poseidon always wanted to be closest to the edge, but he had a feeling it was because he was the most in the shadows. Hades used to be like that too. To an extent he still was. He just wished he hadn’t let Poseidon turn out like that too. He still remembered the days when Poseidon would pick up girls like it was nothing, would give his opinion whether it was asked for or not, and would be angry at a mortal people claimed was better than him not because he was insecure, but because he knew he deserved better. It was sad that the memory was so fuzzy.

It was a common thing for Hades to wish he still had the influence he had on Poseidon when they were back in their father’s stomach. Back then, Hades would simply tell Poseidon it was going to be okay, and he’d believe it. He would tell him to stop crying and he would. He would tell him that yelling was wrong and he’d stop. He remembered the days when Poseidon would attempt to braid Hera’s hair (and fail miserably), and jump on Hades unexpectedly so he was forced to give him a piggy-back without fear of judgment. While Hades knew that was just youth and innocence and everyone had to grow up eventually, he still wished he could revert back to those times. Not for him, but for Poseidon. He was so much happier back then, even in their situation. And by revert Hades meant emotionally. He would take anything over being back in their father’s stomach again.

But alas, Poseidon was grown now. Hades could do many things, but turning back time was not one of them. He’d just have to try his best to work with what he has.

Which for now, meant apologizing. He didn’t exactly know how to word it. After all, he was sorry, but he also needed to bring up that Poseidon needed to gain weight...well, actually...not really. He was still functioning and he still ate...perhaps he just had a fast metabolism. Hades started to doubt himself. Did he truly need it? Yes it would be better for self defence, but once they became gods again wouldn’t Poseidon just go back to his normal, in-shape self? He didn’t want him to become overweight either...Though it wouldn’t be unhealthily so…

_ It’s up to him. _

The thought kind of hit Hades suddenly, like a light slap that still left a little sting. It wasn’t up to Hades to decide what Poseidon wanted. If it wasn’t dangerous, then...Well, he was just truly being an asshole.

Well. What a great revelation.

Well, he supposed that did make it simpler. He just had to apologize now. “Poseidon,” he started, lowering his voice so the campers in front of them wouldn’t hear.

Poseidon looked at him. “Hm?”

“I just wanted to apologize,” Hades said. He used to hate apologizing, and he supposed he still disliked it, but not when it was to Poseidon. He would apologize sixteen-thousand times a day if he thought it would make Poseidon feel better. “For what I said earlier, I mean.” He felt Zeus’ stare boring into him, and he tried to not clench his teeth. 

Poseidon’s cheeks coloured a rosy shade of pink and Hades could tell he was struggling to not look away. “Oh it’s fine.”

“No, I mean it. I was just…” Shit. This wasn’t going to be easier. Well now what was his explanation going to be?  _ Shit, shit, shit. _ “I just thought maybe you were eating less because you were scared of...gaining weight. I just wanted to let you know that it was fine.” Hades internally cringed. Was lying through his teeth any better than not apologizing in the first place? Was he apologizing to make Poseidon feel better or was he apologizing to save his own ass?

Poseidon looked at him again, and his eyes were hopeful. “You thought I wanted to lose weight?”

Hades panicked a little.  _ Oh fuck, now he thinks you think he’s fat.  _ “Not because you’re fat,” he said hastily. “I just thought that might’ve been the reason. You are far from fat.” Far, far, _ far _ from fat. Hades didn’t say that part out loud.

Poseidon smiled a little. “Oh, okay.”

Hades concealed it, but he was a little baffled. He had never seen someone be so happy over someone implying they were overweight. He wished he could get inside Poseidon’s head and see what was going on, because he didn’t have the faintest clue.

“What did you tell him?” Zeus asked.

Hades turned to him, and refrained from glaring.  _ He’s just asking. Chill.  _ Hades internally sighed. “I just told him to get two burgers instead of one and stuff. It was rude.”

Zeus screwed up his face a little. “That’s i—?” Hades gave him a death glare. He trailed off for a second. “—what you said? Why would he need two?”

Hades tried not to roll his eyes. Admittedly, it was a somewhat nice save. “I don’t know. I just thought he was concerned over his eating so telling him it was okay to eat two would make him be fine with eating again or something.”

Zeus gave him a look, and Hades knew he could see right through his bullshit. But he was also smart. If he said anything, he knew Hades would tell Poseidon what Zeus was going to say.

This was the kind of shit that made Hades feel like he was a shitty person. Was he really prioritizing getting back at Zeus over Poseidon’s self esteem? Yes. Yes he was. But he didn’t know how to stop. He was scared if he did, Zeus would just keep telling Poseidon all the bad shit Hades ever did while never being called out on his own, and Poseidon would shy away from Hades, scared of being hurt or of burdening him. Hades would be left all alone again, sent away to rot in the Underworld for the rest of eternity. This whole thing would be pointless. He would lose Poseidon again, just as he did all those years ago. Because Zeus wasn’t going to change. Zeus cared about Poseidon very deeply, Hades knew, but he couldn’t control his brain. His brain had been wired for ruling, that was all he had ever known. He was strategic. If Poseidon hated him and loved Hades, it was obvious Poseidon would be on Hades’ side if a war ever broke out. So by degrading Hades and making sure Poseidon knew he wasn’t some angel, he ensured that Poseidon would still have a hard time choosing between the two. Hades did not know if he was consciously doing that, but he had it in his back pocket if things ever escalated.

Zeus rolled his eyes. “Poseidon can eat however he chooses.”

  
Hades wished he could say he could tell he was just saying that, but he’d be lying. Fortunately for Poseidon and somewhat unfortunately for Hades, he sounded sincere. It made his gut curl. He wanted to be the only one that Poseidon relied on for comfort.

“I know,” he said. He did.

Hades looked back out at the crackling fire, glowing a bright, pleasant-looking pink at the ends. He did not know what the colours meant, but at least they were pretty. There were a few moments of silence, all three of them just breathing quietly and looking at the sparks. Poseidon didn’t seem to be too uncomfortable, so Hades assumed there were no pesky girls looking at him. He was glad. He honestly just wished Poseidon would catch a break.

After another moment, Poseidon spoke. “You don’t have to apologize for everything, y’know.”

Hades looked at him. “Hm?”

Poseidon was still staring directly at the fire. “You don’t have to apologize for everything. I know I can be…” he swallowed, “sensitive at times. But it’s not your responsibility to apologize or anything. I’ll get over it.”

Hades felt his face soften.  _ Oh, no...he’s got it all wrong, hasn’t he? _ “I do not mind apologizing to you, Poseidon,” he said honestly. “You deserve apologies.”

Poseidon shrugged, moving his lips over to one side. “I know...it’s just...I don’t know.”

Hades took his hand. “It’s okay, Poseidon. You don’t need to feel bad about being upset.” Poseidon nodded, but Hades could tell he didn’t believe it. He sighed, and looked at him for a little while. “I love you.” The words felt nice rolling off his tongue, but there was something strange about them. Like he wasn’t supposed to say it yet, like he wasn’t supposed to say it that way. He did not know why.

“I love you too,” Zeus piped up from behind him. “Neither of us mind apologizing to you, fish sticks.”

Poseidon breathed harshly through his nose, kind of like a half-laugh. Tears gathered in his waterline again, but Hades pretended not to notice. “Okay. I love you guys too.”

Hades smiled and held his hand tighter. He leaned forward and brushed a kiss across his temple. He had done it before, but this time it lit up something in his chest, making his fingers tingle and his heart rate pick up.

When he pulled away, Poseidon had a blush on his cheeks. Hades could feel one on his own, too.

Distantly, he wished Poseidon hadn’t added the ‘guys’ to his sentence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was going to make this Hades angst but y'all have been waiting long enough and the ending was too fluffy to. but hades angst is on the horizon (and zeus angst too but shhhhhhhhh)
> 
> I hope this cleared up the situation with zeus nd hades for y'all!! also im obviously gonna have to fix their lil situation so do y'all want Poseidon to find out somehow and it's mostly resolved through his eyes or do you want more Hades/Zeus POV's? (Poseidon's gonna find out eventually obviously i'm just not sure how soon y'all want that). this is still going to be almost entirely Poseidon's POV, but if y'all want different ones a little more frequently I can do that too
> 
> so yee!! sorry again for the delayed update. also sorry if they already knew the infirmary was shift work?? honestly I am whooped right now i'll probably edit it later if it turns out they already knew
> 
> (also btw it may seem like this doesn't have a direction right now but it does, it's just very slow burn)


	8. the world is ending and i'm writing fanfiction

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> poseidon is a sleepy boy, pancakes, walky walky, talky talky, eaty eaty, sorting things, will being a bean, Poseidon sneakin a few peeks, more food. jk not really it's just the pancakes that just sounded like a good way to end this

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey yall!! sorry for the delayed update again :(( I really had to work on my original stuff this week because we're sending it off to publishers soon!!! so that's exciting!!! and also you may be wondering: yeah okay but ur in quarantine hoe u got time. and to that I say: yes. i'm just a lazy ass bitch
> 
> speaking of which, I hope you're all safe!! remember to stay home, don't panic, wash your hands and avoid touching your face! you may not be at risk, but many people are so watch out! be careful, don't be scared, and listen to authorities. this will all pass soon :)
> 
> (P.S the chapter title is a joke, please don't think the world is ending lol)

Poseidon leaned his cheek on Zeus’ shoulder and groaned quietly. His eyes drooped closed. He tried to open them again but failed, and his lids dropped back down on his waterline like weights in water. He sighed quietly, letting out a little close-mouthed hum and smacking his lips a few times, just letting them stay closed. They felt a lot better closed.

“Is someone tired?” Zeus asked above him, amusement colouring his voice. Poseidon felt the muscles in his shoulder move as he brought his fork up to his mouth.

He hummed. “Maybe a little bit.”

Hades put a hand on his forehead, and Poseidon could see his frown even with his eyes closed. His lips would look like an archer's bow that was just about to snap, though much more delicate. “You’re not sick are you?” His voice always got deeper when it was concerned.

Poseidon smiled internally, but unfortunately did not have enough energy to do so physically. “No,” he said, yawning. “‘‘m jus’ tired.” 

Hades moved his hand around a little more on his forehead before removing it. “Are you having trouble sleeping?”

Poseidon contemplated for a moment, but shook his head. “No, it was just last night.” He wasn’t entirely sure why. Admittedly, lately he had been having a little trouble getting to sleep, but last night took forever. Maybe he had too much food.

“Okay,” Hades said. He gave his shoulder a little squeeze, and Poseidon decided that was worth a smile.

Poseidon didn’t feel like he could eat right now, so he just continued laying his head on Zeus’ shoulder. His eyes felt like sand underneath his eyelids and his limbs felt like cement blocks. Zeus placed his fork down and dragged Poseidon a little closer to him, then wrapped his arm around his shoulders. It was kind of odd for him: he usually only did any form of PDA if it was a rare occasion or one of his lovers’ kinks (which was also thankfully somewhat rare). Poseidon figured it must’ve just been one of those moments of impulse everyone gets occasionally. It made Poseidon smile, too.

“Are you gonna eat?” Hades asked. Poseidon felt him scooch closer.

“Nah,” Poseidon breathed. “‘’M not hungry.”

“Okay,” Hades said. His tone was soft. “Maybe you should take something up for later when you are.”

Poseidon sighed quietly. “Yeah, I guess.” He thought for a moment, still not bothering to open his eyes. “Pancakes.” He didn’t see or hear anything, but he knew the food was there.

Zeus chuckled, and Poseidon felt a little vibration against his temple. “You’re gonna take pancakes to go?”

Poseidon smiled as his cheeks warmed. “Yeah.” He had kind of forgotten about that part.

Hades nudged him lightly. “Maybe you should order something else. Maybe something you can eat cold?”

“I can eat pancakes cold,” Poseidon argued, yawning. “You’re just a coward.”

“I’m a coward?” Hades asked, amusement colouring his voice.

“Yep. Definitely a coward.” Poseidon yawned again.

“Right.” Hades chuckled and Poseidon assumed he went back to eating. 

He let out another little breath, snuggling more into Zeus’ shoulder. He wanted to go back to bed. There were two kids outside his cabin at seven or so, playing some sort of war game and screaming at the top of their lungs. He couldn’t get back to sleep after, no matter how hard he tried.

Zeus moved his hand from around Poseidon’s shoulders to around Poseidon’s waist. Poseidon was too tired to be embarrassed, but he half-giggled and moved away from the hand. It tickled.

“Oh?” Zeus asked.

_ Oh no. _

“Is someone ticklish?”

“No,” Poseidon said, opening his eyes.  _ Okay, nope. _ He let them fall closed again. “I’m not ticklish, you're ticklish. You are what you eat.”

“What? How would I eat ticklish?”

Poseidon let out a breath. Lack of sleep always made him say stupid shit. “I don’t know.”

Zeus laughed, throwing his head back. Poseidon punched him lightly, grumbling. “Shut up.”

“Hey, hey, hey Mr. Ticklish, I’m not the one in a very vulnerable position to be tickled. Don’t you use that language with me.” He drummed his fingers on Poseidon’s ribs threateningly.

Poseidon tried not to move away or show any sign it tickled. He somewhat succeeded, somewhat didn’t. Zeus chuckled at him, and Poseidon knew Hades was probably rolling his eyes at them. “I’m not ticklish so it won’t bother me,” he said stubbornly.

“Is that so?” Zeus asked. “Would you like to test that theory?”

Poseidon grinned against his will. “No.”

Both Zeus and Hades laughed at that, and Poseidon tried to hold his in. He failed a little bit, but that was okay. 

Or not.

Zeus was relentless, moving his fingers up and down Poseidon’s ribcage like a madman, getting in all the little crevices and making Poseidon jump away and writhe. “Stop!” Poseidon laughed loudly, jerking wildly to get away from him. “You bitch, stop!” His eyes were now not closed because he was tired, but because for some reason he thought squeezing his eyes shut would help tone down the ticklish-ness. He tried to contain his laughter and scooched closer to him to try to get away from the hand, ramming into Zeus’ side as hard as he could.

Zeus finally stopped, laughing loudly. He grabbed Poseidon around the back of his neck and pulled him down roughly to give him a noogie. Poseidon let out an “ugh!” and shoved him off. When he pulled away, he was grinning and Zeus was too. “You  _ bitch _ ,” Poseidon laughed, shoving him harshly.

Zeus only leaped forward, mock-threateningly. “I’ll do it agai—”

“No!” Poseidon leaped back into Hades, who was forced to drop his fork and let out a “shit!”. He didn’t seem to mind too much in the end, laughing with them. He wrapped his arms around Poseidon, drawing him closer and further away from Zeus. Poseidon was grateful for the protection around his waist and grinned, lifting his legs up to kick Zeus off—

“Um, excuse me.”

Poseidon looked up, eyebrows raised and mouth drawing together a little bit. It was John. He was looking at them with amusement in his eyes, though Poseidon thought he looked a little uncomfortable. 

Poseidon blushed and pushed himself out of Hades’ arms, sitting up straight and clearing his throat. “Oh, hi.”

“Hi,” John responded, eyebrows raised and mouth curled up in a smile. “I’m here to escort you?”

“Right, yes,” Poseidon said. He looked at Zeus and Hades, who both also had a light blush on their faces, and nodded. “Uh…” He looked down at his pancakes. Why had he ordered pancakes again? “Right.” He picked them up anyway and stood, scraping the bench back. “Uh, bye guys,” he said, stepping over the bench. 

“You need an escort?” Hades asked before he could go. He looked at John with a stern gaze, though Poseidon couldn’t tell what emotion it held.

“Uh, yeah,” Poseidon responded, a little confused. “The infirmary only lets Apollo kids in, so anyone that isn’t one has to be escorted by one.”

“So how do you get in if you’re injured?” Zeus asked, one eyebrow raised. He also gave John a strange look.

“It’s only the entrance where the medical staff are supposed to enter,” John piped up. “All of the patients are able to get in fine.”

Hades narrowed his eyes. “So why doesn’t Poseidon just enter through the main doors?”

“Uh…” John looked at Poseidon awkwardly, and he looked away. 

“It’s fine guys,” he said, cheeks heating up. He didn’t know why they were acting like it was such a big deal, but he did know it was embarrassing. “I think it’s because I’m technically medical staff now.”

“But you could still enter through the main entrance, couldn’t you?” Zeus asked. He had a hard, grilling look in his eyes as he looked at John. 

Poseidon looked at them weirdly. “Guys, it’s not a big deal.”  _ They’ve never done this before. _ A little dread curled in Poseidon’s gut. Did they know something about John that he didn’t? Was something wrong with him? Poseidon didn’t like him, but he didn’t know if there was anything scary or wrong about him…

“Alright, if you’re sure,” Hades said. He turned to him and the look disappeared, instead a soft, fond one taking its place. It made Poseidon tingle a bit. “Have fun.”

“Yeah, go save people or something,” Zeus added, punching him lightly. 

Poseidon smiled. “I will. Thanks. Bye, guys.”

“Bye.”

“Bye, Poseidon.”

Poseidon walked over to John, who gave him a slight eyebrow raise before turning and heading towards the infirmary. Poseidon let out a small sigh and followed. He really hoped they weren’t going to make him count those things again.

He kept somewhat pace with John, falling a little behind. He felt very much like a child that got into trouble with the principal, both metaphorically and physically. He was up to just above Hades’ collarbone, but he was up to the middle of this guy’s chest. He wondered if it was hard for him to shower. It probably was. When Poseidon was 5’11 it was hard. This guy must have to be a full on contortionist. At least he wasn’t really built. Like—he wasn’t like Poseidon, but he still kind of resembled a praying mantis. Poseidon thought that was kind of mean. But he was also mean so it’s fine.

“Why are you holding pancakes?”

Poseidon looked up at him. “What?”

  
He slowed down a little so Poseidon could keep pace and looked at the pancakes in Poseidon’s hand. “Why are you holding pancakes?”

“Oh.” Poseidon looked down at said pancakes, flopping gently in the wind. “I was too tired to eat so I took them to go.” When Poseidon looked back at him, he had a small, amused smile on his face, eyebrows scrunched a little down. Poseidon furrowed his brow, too. “What?”

His smile grew a little bit and he looked away. “Nothing.”

“Well no, you have to tell me.” Poseidon rolled his eyes. “You can’t look at me like something’s wrong and then not tell me.”

He snorted a little. “Okay, okay. I just thought it was weird you chose pancakes to take on the go.”

Poseidon breathed through his nose harshly. “Well I don’t think it’s weird.” He really needed some sleep.

  
“Okay,” John said, now grinning and shaking his head.

“Well  _ now  _ what?” Poseidon asked.  _ Poseidon stop talking you’re going to regret saying this stuff when you’re well rested. ...No. _

“ _ What? _ ” John asked, turning down to him with wide eyes. “I’m just looking ahead!”

“ _ No, _ ” Poseidon retorted, rolling his eyes again, “you shook your head like I’m crazy or something.”

“Sorry,” he said, “it’s just...nothing.”

Poseidon refrained from huffing. “Oh c’mon, you have to tell me.”

“You’re just...a lot different than how I expected Poseidon to be.”

Poseidon’s face fell. “Oh.”  _ Well, you shouldn’t have asked. _

John looked down at him with his eyebrows furrowed. Poseidon looked ahead, a light frown on his face. He didn’t know what he expected John to answer, but he admitted he wished it wasn’t that. He supposed the boy didn’t know him so it was perfectly reasonable for him to assume what he was like and have it be wrong, but Poseidon knew the implication whenever people thought that.  _ ‘I expected you to be strong, tall, and handsome and you’re not.’ _ He sighed internally. He used to dislike teenagers, but now he just had pity for them. If this is what he looked and felt like as a teenager, he couldn’t imagine what some of them go through.

“I, uh…” John started, sounding very lost. Poseidon looked up at him. “I didn’t mean like in a bad way. Well...like, yeah. No. I didn’t mean it in a bad way.”

“Right,” Poseidon said. He looked ahead again. At this point he was starting to wish people just owned up to it: them apologizing and denying what they said and then just doing it again later on wasn’t helping very much. Besides, he only had to do this for another year, and then he’d be back to being snatched.  _ Okay, never say that again. _

He internally sighed again. A year. Well, more like 10 months now, but still. Maybe he should try working out again or something. Although...he smiled. Hades assumed he wanted to lose weight last night. Poseidon knew he was, well... _very_ far from fat, so that wasn’t an issue. So that just meant Hades thought he wasn’t too skinny. If people assume he wants to lose weight, then that can only mean he looks average, right? Although, Hades isn’t the only person in the world...Poseidon’s lips tugged down a little further. For some reason, he was somewhat okay with the idea of only Hades thinking he looked okay. Other people’s opinions mattered to him, but not as much as Hades’. He supposed that was normal. Hades was closer to him than most people.

The rest of the walk was pretty awkward. Poseidon couldn’t tell if John felt bad about what he said or was just awkward at the fact that Poseidon handled it in a bad way.  _ Oh boy, if he was with me on the quest... _ Poseidon almost snorted. He would take it as  _ proof  _ that Poseidon wasn’t actually Poseidon.

They reached the infirmary, still in awkward silence. John went down the walkway first and Poseidon followed behind quietly. He blocked a lot of light from reaching Poseidon, effectively making him a little insecure. Perhaps Poseidon should cut his ankles off. That would make him shorter. The leaves were a little more dewy this time, and Poseidon pressed closer to the infirmary wall to avoid the wetness. He looked down at his pancakes and sighed. He probably shouldn’t eat them around a bunch of sick people. He shoved them in his mouth, the dough still somehow tasting good even without butter or syrup. All of the food here tasted good. It was a little hard to chew, but that was probably because he shoved them in all at once so his cheeks resembled those of a chipmunk’s. He swallowed harshly, feeling a big lump slide painfully down his throat. Oh well. They were still good.

They rounded the corner and entered, the supply room just as crowded and earthy as Poseidon remembered it. John flicked the lightswitch on, and they weaved through the small room to the main part of the infirmary. John opened the door and held it for him, and when Poseidon passed he bumped his head into the dude’s chest. His cheeks burned a little.

“Poseidon, John!” 

Poseidon turned towards the voice and found Will Solace pushing a drawer closed near the front of the room. He was smiling brightly, teeth gleaming in the golden rays still coming in from the windows. His dark circles were a little more noticable today, but Poseidon didn’t mention it. “How are you guys today?”

“Good,” John replied, smiling softly. 

“Good,” Poseidon mimicked, “how are you?”

John walked over to the pile of lists on the wall while Will replied. “Good, thank you. Just setting up as usual.” He had a little southern drawl, Poseidon noted. He hadn’t really picked up on it before, but it was definitely there.

“That’s cool,” Poseidon replied a little awkwardly. He never really knew how to respond to that kind of stuff.

“Yeah,” he smiled. He moved a tissue box slightly so it was perfectly in the centre of a bedside table, then turned to Poseidon and started walking towards him. “Do you two want to count the stuff in the supply room?”

  
“Uh…” Poseidon glanced at John, who already had his hand on the list and was looking back at Will like he was crazy.

“Me too?” he asked. Will gave him a stern look, and realization dawned in his eyes. He scowled and looked away. “Oh, right.”

“What’s going on?” Poseidon asked quietly. He hadn't meant for it to be quiet, his voice just kind of did it anyway. 

“John’s going to help you count everything,” Will said, smiling at him warmly. “We figured it might be too much work for one person.”

Poseidon had a feeling that wasn’t the actual reason, but wasn’t about to complain. “Oh,” he said, trying not to smile too big as to annoy John further, “cool. Thanks.”

“Yeah, of course,” Will replied. “I’ll be out here if you two need me. Sorry for getting you started right away.”

“Oh, it’s fine,” Poseidon responded. Though he didn’t like counting, he didn’t exactly know what else he would do. He had finished the posters last time, and John made it apparent that he couldn’t do much else.

John tore two pages off the stack of lists and handed one to him, poorly concealing his annoyance. He didn’t say anything and opened the door swiftly, making Poseidon have to back up a little so it didn’t hit him. Poseidon widened his eyes a little bit behind his back. Will gave him a sympathetic smile, face screwed up a little. Poseidon returned the smile uncomfortably before entering in after John.

He closed the door behind him, and everything immediately became at least ten times more stiff and awkward. Poseidon was almost glad he was so tired, because usually extreme sleep-deprivation was the equivalent of drunkness for him, which meant, well, awkwardness wasn’t really a consistent presence. He couldn’t imagine how this would feel well-rested.

John was already counting stuff on one side of the room, sorting through the top shelves with no difficulty. “I’ll take the first column, you take the next.” It wasn’t a question.

Poseidon rocked back and forth on his feet a little bit. “Uh, okay.” He looked down at said column. The list was just as long and dreadful as he remembered it, but at least this meant he only had to do half of it. His first task was counting bottles of cough syrup, which was more than a relief considering he remembered them being on the bottom shelf. He really did not feel like asking John for a ladder. It was embarrassing last time, him being in a bad mood would almost make it worse.

Poseidon scouted through the shelves, searching for the purply-red bottles with white labels around them. He hummed a little bit, but he didn’t recognize the tune. The room was colder than it was his first day and the walls seemed a little damper, effectively making the air seem clearer and more fresh. Poseidon didn’t really mind the chilliness, but he wished he’d worn a hat or something. His sweatpants and hoodie were warm enough, though. The sweatpants were actually Percy’s, but Poseidon pretended not to realize. He hoped he wouldn’t mind. They were quite comfortable.

He found the bottles and crouched down, looking at his list. Fifteen of them.  _ Why do they need fifteen bottles of cough syrup? Doesn’t this shit expire? _ Poseidon didn’t say that out loud. Admittedly, he found a lot of the supply room strange. Couldn’t they heal half the stuff this was used for by just using their magical Apollo powers?  _ I guess not. Hm. _

The bottles were cool under his fingertips as he counted them. He already felt himself slipping away into absent-mindedness, daydreaming about random things. The bottles were similar to the size of ranch bottles, though Poseidon didn’t know why that was his reference. He didn’t even really like ranch. He ended up sitting cross-legged halfway through counting, and sighed when he was done and had to get up for the next one. He wanted to lay down and go back to sleep. That sounded lovely.

After a moment of moping, he pushed himself up. The next few tasks were pretty standard: five boxes of medical gloves, thirteen circular bandage boxes, twenty Tylenol extra-strength bottles. Poseidon yawned about thirty five times throughout, but nonetheless pushed through. It was the  _ AZO Urinary Pain Relief  _ that provided his first obstacle. 

Before this shit show, top shelves were Poseidon’s absolute favourite thing. There was nothing in his life he enjoyed more than top shelves. Because yeah, he was usually 5’11, but when he wanted to show off he would just do a quick little trick, boost up his height and boom. Top shelves? He didn’t even have to extend his arm. And yes, maybe it was very bad for his body and his bones hurt like a bitch afterwards, but he felt cool. Very, very cool. But now, well, let’s just say a few inches can make a big difference. He looked up in disdain, feeling his dignity slowly slipping away into the breeze. He sighed, looking away and staring at the bandage box in front of him as if it was going to fix all of his problems. 

After another moment, he turned around and looked at John’s turned back. He opened his mouth and closed it a few times, his pride desperately trying to resist his attempts. He could hear it screaming in a tiny little fading voice: ‘No! Stop! Bitch!’. He ignored it and sighed, straightening a little and preparing for his dignity’s doom. “Um, excuse me John.” He could at least sound professional. John didn’t respond, but he continued anyway, albeit a little uncomfortably. “Where’s the ladder?”

John turned to him with a bored look on his face. “What?”

Poseidon cleared his throat. “Where’s the ladder? I can’t reach, uh…” He gestured to the top shelf. 

John’s eyes followed his hand. “Oh. It’s out by Will’s office.” He looked back at the section of boxes he was counting.

Poseidon nodded awkwardly. “Okay, thanks.”

John didn’t reply, so Poseidon just walked over to the door and swung it open. Will was talking to a new patient on one of the beds, and Clara was back at her usual spot by Emma. Will looked up as he came out, eyebrows raised slightly. 

“Is something wrong?” he asked, concern in his eyes.

“Oh no,” Poseidon answered, “I just need the ladder.” He tried not to rock on his feet. He needed to stop doing that, it probably looked weird.

“Oh, of course,” Will said, pushing on his thighs as he stood. He looked down at the new patient, a small-ish brown girl who couldn’t stop sniffing. “I’ll be back in just a sec, Morgan.”

Morgan nodded, poorly concealing her glances at Poseidon. Poseidon was somewhat used to that and somewhat not: he had gotten a lot of looks earlier on, but it had been a little while since. Regardless, he still wanted to get the ladder and get back in the room as quickly as possible to get away from her. Will walked over to his office and stepped in, glancing around. A brief look of confusion passed his features, making Poseidon’s gut curl a little with dread. He stepped into his office fully (well—Poseidon didn’t know if it was  _ his _ but still) and closed the door behind him. 

The room fell into awkward semi-silence, with Clara and Emma still chatting while Poseidon and Morgan awkwardly shifted, each trying to not look at the other. Well—more like Poseidon was trying not to look at Morgan while Morgan was trying not to let Poseidon know she was looking at him. Poseidon sincerely hoped she was just interested because he was Poseidon and she wasn’t one of those people Chiron warned him about. She looked no older than fifteen.

A few minutes later, Will emerged again with an apologetic look on his face. “I’m sorry Poseidon, I forgot we lent it to the Hephaestus cabin this morning. Do you think you can get John to do it or is it too tall for both of you?”

_ Oh no. _ Poseidon wanted to say it was too tall for both of them, but it wasn’t. John was a literal skyscraper. “No, it’s okay. John can do it, I think.” It hurt to say, but he didn't want to cause Will any trouble.

Will nodded, a smile on his face. “Alright. Sorry about that.”

He prolonged the ‘o’ in sorry. Poseidon thought it was kind of funny, but he didn't laugh. “It’s fine. Thanks anyway.”

“Alright.” Will gave him one last smile and went to sit by Morgan again. 

  
Poseidon glanced at the girl and they caught eyes for a brief moment before he looked away and disappeared into the supply room. He shut the door quietly behind him and stood awkwardly in front of it, looking at John’s back. He hovered there for a moment, trying to speak but nothing coming out. _Okay, Poseidon. Come on. It’s not like he’s going to hit you or something, he’s just a little annoyed._

“Um…”

John turned around, one eyebrow raised. It quickly furrowed and he cast his eyes down by Poseidon’s hips before coming back up, visible confusion in his eyes.

“Will gave the ladder to the Hephaestus kids this morning,” Poseidon answered before he had to ask.

“Oh.” They both stood there for a moment, looking at each other. Poseidon glanced to the side, not really knowing what to say. Should he ask now or…?

  
“Do you want me to count?” John’s voice wasn’t as annoyed as Poseidon expected it to be, but it was almost completely emotionless. That was kind of worse: Poseidon at least wanted to know if he was still irritated or angry or whatever.

Regardless, he nodded. “Yeah, please.”

John nodded, turning back to his task and pointing three more times before checking a box on his sheet and nodding slightly. He walked over to Poseidon. “Where is it?”

“Oh,” Poseidon said, bouncing into motion and walking over to the boxes, “they’re over here. Just on the top shelf.” He stopped right in front of it.

“Yeah, ‘kay.” 

Poseidon turned around to look at him and was met with his face nearly ramming into a hoodie-clad chest. He stumbled back, letting out a little gasp. John looked at him, an eyebrow raised. “Oh, sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“It’s fine,” Poseidon said, a little warmth on his cheeks. His heart rate jumped. He hadn’t realized he was so close behind him.

“The urine medicine?” John asked.

Poseidon glanced at him for a moment before looking down at the crumpled list in his hand. He tried to smooth out the wrinkles, but to no avail. At least he could still read it. “Uh, yeah.”

John nodded and Poseidon looked at him. He reached up, only having to go slightly on his toes to see over the top shelf. His hoodie rode up, and Poseidon instinctively looked down. He couldn’t see a whole lot above his belly button, but what he could see was toned and about as hard as rock, with a little happy trail extending down below the waistband of his jeans. His hip bones jutted out attractively, and the skin was smooth and tanned. 

“How many?”

Poseidon continued to stare, not being able to look away. “What?”

“How many boxes are there supposed to be?” He sounded amused this time.

Poseidon finally looked up and found John staring at him, amusement sparkling in his eyes.  _ Shit. Why’d you keep looking?  _ He hadn’t really swung for boys in a while anyway. His face burned. “Uh…” he looked down at his list again, knowing he was failing miserably at hiding his embarrassment. “Eight.”  _ Shit fuck. Fuck. Fuck. _

“Okay.” He looked back at the boxes, smile a little smug. He looked like he was trying not to laugh, and Poseidon’s face burned brighter. He purposely looked away and at a shelf beside him, grabbing one arm with his hand.  _ How are you going to let yourself live this one down? He’s literally a dick. Well not really. Well yeah. You’re not romantically attracted to him, it’s fine. Well no it’s not. Well— _

“All eight are there,” John said, coming down off his toes and looking back at him. 

Poseidon didn’t look up. “Okay, thanks.” He took out his pen and marked it off.

John lingered in front of him and he pretended not to notice, cheeks still burning noticeably as he looked down at his sheet. It was another moment before he walked away, and Poseidon was beyond glad. He knew this was going to be one of those moments he would look back and cringe on for the rest of his life. 

Unfortunately, that was not even the worst part. Poseidon had to ask him for help a total of ten other times, but at least by the end of it it was kind of a joke. Like—John wasn’t joking with him, but they both kind of snickered to ease the awkwardness when he had to. The...incident earlier was on his mind for the rest of the time they counted, and Poseidon wished very much that he could build a time machine, go back, and just simply not look. Thankfully, John didn’t seem to be too weirded out by it, but it didn’t make Poseidon any less embarrassed. God, he was going to have to avoid looking at him for the rest of his stay at camp. There was nothing worse than knowing someone thinks you like them when you don’t. John had also gotten less annoyed as time went on, and he was back to the version of himself he had been when Poseidon had first met him. Friendly but almost too much so and for some reason always speaking like a youth pastor.

The counting went by faster than it had the other day, thankfully. Well—obviously, considering both people only had to do half the list. They were done at around 10:30, and conveniently the last one was yet again on the top shelf.

“Uh,” Poseidon said, looking up at it. 

“Again?”

“Yeah. Sorry.”

John nodded. “Yep. I’m just going to finish this one, it’s my last one. Is that your last one too?”

  
Poseidon nodded too, though John’s back was turned. “Yeah.”

“Alright, cool.” He counted a few more things before marking on his sheet and turning, a smile on his face. He had stopped showing any indication he remembered the incident earlier on, and for that Poseidon was grateful. “Where is it?”

“Just up there.” Poseidon pointed to said shelf he was referring to.

John nodded and strode towards him. “What is it and how many?”

“Benadryl, 30 boxes.”

John nodded. They were in a peculiar spot, right in the corner of the room. Poseidon had forgotten to move out of the way, so when John went on his toes and reached over him to count, he was completely trapped. A light blush covered his cheeks, though a little discomfort mixed in with his embarrassment. John’s hoodie was red and about three centimetres away from his face. His lower stomach was exposed again, but Poseidon purposely didn’t look down there, instead looking to his side where he wasn’t so trapped. John smelled good. Not as good as Will, but more boyish.

After a few seconds, John lowered down from his toes. “Yep, everything’s there.” He looked down at Poseidon and caught his eyes for a moment, smiling.

Poseidon suddenly felt like an ant, almost all light from the room blocked by John’s body. He had to crane his neck up to see his face when they were so close, and now Poseidon was starting to get envious rather than just insecure. He wasn’t even that tall when he was a god. He would still be up to this guy’s shoulder when he was a god. This dude was the same height as Hades when he was a  _ god. _ This dude probably not only had short girls after him, but the tall ones too. Poseidon wanted to strangle him. Not really, but he was jealous. He didn’t care that it was probably hard for him to take showers. Poseidon would take that over being a fucking lawn gnome.

John lingered a moment before backing up and clapping his hands together. “Well, we’re done!” he said cheerfully. “That only took a few thousand hours.”

Poseidon nodded and laughed shyly. Well—not shyly, he just sounded shy. “Yeah.”

“I’m sure Will will put us up to something,” he said, turning around. 

Poseidon followed. “Yeah.”

John opened the door, and Poseidon entered with a small ‘thank you’. Morgan was still on her bed, looking bored as she stared up at the ceiling. Emma and Clara were laughing about something up in the corner, and the fluorescent lights had been turned on. 

Will came out of his office when they entered, a bright smile on his face. Everyone here smiled a lot, Poseidon noted. “Hey guys! You all done?”

  
“Yep.”

“Yeah.”

“Perfect.” He smiled at Poseidon specifically, and Poseidon wondered if he was always this nice or if it was just to him. Regardless, he smiled back. Will looked away and walked over to a large, pantry-type thing, swinging it open. “It’s just in time, too, we only have about 20 minutes before we have to go down to lunch and then capture the flag. Can you guys help prepare and stuff? I know you just did something, but it’s always way too busy after capture the flag for us to have to keep on going back into the supply room.” He looked at Morgan. “Do you think you’ll be able to participate today, Morgan?”

“I don’t know,” she said. “The medicine’s kinda making me drowsy.” Her voice was high and airy, though a little nasally.

Will nodded, giving a sympathetic smile. “Okay, sorry about that.”

Morgan smiled, and Poseidon could tell she wasn’t too disappointed. “It’s alright.” Will gave her a little wink and she giggled.

“Um, sorry, what do we have to do to prepare for capture the flag?” Poseidon asked, a little confused.

“Oh right,” Will said, “we haven’t told you. Whenever we expect an increase in patients, we always stock up that little cabinet over there.” He pointed to it. Poseidon hadn’t even realized it was there. “Just so we don’t have to keep on running back and forth from the supply room and stuff. We just get the basic stuff that people usually need in whatever situation we’re dealing with. When it’s capture the flag it’s mostly painkillers, disinfectants, and bandages. When it was the war, we pretty much had everything, but more of the magical stuff. That stuff’s in there.” He pointed to his office. 

Poseidon glanced over, then looked back and nodded. “Oh, okay.”

“Yeah,” he said, smiling and walking over. “So we just need all the things I listed.” He laughed a little. “I’ll get most of the painkillers, but John you get the ones on the top shelves. Poseidon, you get the bandages. Just the compression ones, normal ones, and triangular ones. We never end up using the sponge ones.”

Poseidon was glad for that, because he had absolutely zero clue what a sponge bandage was. “Alright, cool.”

Will nodded and smiled in confirmation. “Cool.”

The three of them entered the supply room, and Poseidon thankfully remembered where most of the stuff was. He spent a little time searching for the triangle bandages (mostly because he had no clue what they were), but found them eventually. It was less awkward with Will in there, and in fact the whole room seemed warmer and brighter. Poseidon wondered if it was just his imagination or Will was more like his father than his other siblings.

By the time they got out, Will just decided to let them all out a little early for lunch since there wasn’t much to do anyway. Clara jumped up and Poseidon smiled a little bit. He was looking forward to seeing Zeus and Hades. By now he had woken up a little bit, but he was still concerned about capture the flag. He wasn’t good at it usually, let alone when he was sleep deprived.

“So how was your morning?” Will asked.

They were all outside now, walking towards the pavilion. Poseidon and Will were trailing a little bit behind, with Clara practically skipping and John’s legs just naturally accelerating his speed. Poseidon looked at Will and smiled. He liked Will. He was glad Nico had someone so nice, even if he thought they must’ve clashed sometimes. “Good, thanks. What about you?”

Will smiled too, though he already had been. Just did so more noticeably. “Good. John didn't give you any trouble?”

Poseidon looked ahead. “Nope.”

“That’s good. Sorry about the other day, he’s not usually like that.”

Poseidon swallowed harshly. He didn’t like talking about things that had hurt him, even if it was out of good intentions. “Yeah, it’s fine.”

Will bumped his shoulder. “Alright, but if you ever need to talk I’m here. I know it’s been a rough few weeks. Nico’s told me a little bit.”

Poseidon sincerely hoped that the ‘little bit’ was only about the fighting and travelling part of the quest and did not contain any mention of Zeus and Hades making him cry. Because he did not need any more people knowing that. Nonetheless, he smiled at Will gratefully. “Thank you. I’m here too.”

Will gave him another shoulder jiggle thing, radiating warmth from his smile. “Of course.”

Poseidon looked ahead once more, a small, happy smile on his face. Maybe the infirmary wasn’t going to be too bad. He just had to watch where he looked.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> no this is not going to be Poseidon/Will ksjhghskdgh  
> and I know this sounds desperate but if you can, can you please comment? :) you don't have to obviously, I just don't know if anyone's reading this and its been kinda bothering me lol. don't feel bad or anything if u don't want to, just as long as I know at least a few people are reading this i'll be fine haha.  
> anyway, remember to stay safe and be kind to yourself and others in these rough times!!! as someone said, this too shall pass and the sun will rise again tomorrow. or something like that idk. actually I just searched it up and I combined two quotes so I guess i'm like Shakespeare now that's kinda cool


	9. capture the flag kinda

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> uhhhhhhh preparing fo capture the flag????

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey y'all!!!!!!! sorry for the delay :(  
> If you follow my Tumblr u already know the story but for those of u that don't: basically I was gonna make them preparing for capture the flag and them actually playing it the same chapter but this one is already 7000 words and it was getting too long. I would've made it longer and fit in the game part, but my laptop broke and I'm going to my dad's house where I don't have access to a computer. I'll be typing on my iPad lol, but I'd rather get a good chapter up and edited so yee. actually this might not be too greatly edited bc im going to my dad's in like an hour oop
> 
> so yeah!!! sorry for the delay :(
> 
> also im going back to the "previously on" cuz its fun hskgdjhkhd

**_Previously on 'Really? Again? My Poor Salad': "Maybe the infirmary wasn’t going to be too bad. He just had to watch where he looked."_ **

“Who are the two teams this time again?” Nico asked, spinning the noodles in his soup around while darting his eyes across the other tables. His hair fell into his eyes and he brushed it away, giving it a little shake. It was long, a little longer than Hades’, but it was just as thick. Poseidon could tell from when he ran his fingers through it.

“Ares and Athena again,” Zeus answered, taking a bite out of his clubhouse sandwich. “They’ll probably pick the same cabins as last time.” It was said through a mouthful of bread and tomato, but still somehow didn’t seem disgusting.

Nico hummed thoughtfully, picking up a fry and chewing the end of it. “They paired the Zeus and Hades cabins last time. Do you think they’ll do that again?”

“Nah,” Zeus said, shaking some more salt on his fries. “I think Ares forgot that Perseus is gone so they didn’t really fight for any other big three cabin. Probably thought they’d win by default with Jackson on their side.”

Poseidon listened quietly, taking a bite of his fries and pretending not to notice that he implied it was obvious they didn’t just want Poseidon. 

“Oh yeah, what did you do last time, Poseidon?” Nico said, turning his attention to him with mild curiosity colouring his voice. “I didn’t see you at all.”

“Oh,” Poseidon said, swallowing. He refrained from cringing. He had hoped no one was going to ask that. “I was just on defence by the edge of the woods.”

“Why would they put defence by the—” Realization dawned in Nico’s eyes and he cleared his throat awkwardly, looking away in an attempt to be casual. “Oh.”

Poseidon’s cheeks burned, but he pretended like he didn’t say anything. They put him there because no one would bother to go there. There was nothing to defend but trees.

“Maybe we’ll be on the same team this time,” Hades piped up, bumping shoulders with him. 

Poseidon smiled smally. “Yeah.”

Hades frowned, nuding him again. “Is everything alright?”

Poseidon looked up at him with mild surprise. “What? Yeah.” He hadn’t thought he’d said anything to make him seem sad. Perhaps he did. Oh well.

“Alright, just checking.” He looked back at his food.

Poseidon did too, but just picked up one of his fries and circled it around his plate. His eyes drooped, his drowsiness returning after sitting down for a little while. His appetite had shrunk lately, but now it was almost completely gone knowing what was about to go down in half an hour or so.

Ever since the first Friday of his stay he had dreaded capture the flag. A game where kids could not only take their anger out on him, but do it without punishment. Hades almost went berserk the first time they played, after he had met up for supper with them with a black eye, an already-purple and blue abdomen, and a tear streaked face. Will had remained surprisingly calm in the infirmary while Hades ranted about how he was going to ‘kill those damn kids’ before finally politely reminding him that the only things off limits were killing and maiming: everything else was fair game. It really only made Hades go more berserk.

Needless to say, Hades had tried to keep an eye on him since then. And so did Zeus, though he was still attempting to play the game. Hades just stood so close beside Poseidon he might as well have been hugging him. It only worked for the first few times: after that, Poseidon was literally just pushed so far to the edge of the boundaries that campers couldn’t beat him up simply because they couldn’t find him. It kind of sucked, kind of didn’t. Poseidon hadn’t gotten beat up since then, but he also felt entirely like a loser. Had turning mortal truly gotten rid of any good traits he had?

  
“Are you sure you’re alright?” Hazel asked, her voice high and sweet. She must’ve gotten it from her mother. Hades always liked women with nice voices. Dimly, Poseidon wondered if Hades liked his voice.

He looked up at the girl, eyebrows raised again. “Hm?”

“You look a little sad,” she said, taking a bite of her sandwich. Poseidon could tell she was swinging her legs, though he couldn’t actually see them.

“Oh, I’m fine,” Poseidon said, forcing a smile. His resting face must just be sad now. Or maybe miserable? Maybe angry. He’d been told he had a resting bitch face as a god, he wasn’t sure what it was now.

“You didn’t get a lot of sleep last night, right?” Zeus grunted, dipping some fries in his ketchup. “Or is something at the infirmary bothering you?”

Poseidon furrowed his brow, still smiling. “Guys I’m fine.” He let out a short laugh. He appreciated them asking, though he didn’t know why. He was going to have to add ‘looking sad’ to the list of reasons he shouldn’t make himself sleep deprived.

“Alright, alright,” Zeus relented, nudging him. “You just look a little sad, that’s all.”

“I’m always sad,” Poseidon said, attempting to crack a joke.

The whole table burst out in laughter, but it was a little bittersweet. Poseidon was glad they actually thought it was funny, but something was telling him they were more shocked he admitted he was a crybaby than anything. He picked up another fry, not bringing himself to fake laugh. He was too tired today. Oh well, he’d pretend to be really happy tomorrow. Oh yeah, he was supposed to start being nice. Maybe he should’ve laughed.  _ Ugh. I just want to go to bed… _

Poseidon rested his cheek on his palm, using a fry as a paintbrush and his ketchup as paint. He should probably stop being sad. His friends shouldn’t be responsible for his mental health. He’d read that on some twitter thing one time. Oh god...Poseidon shook his head. Yeah he comforted Hades and Zeus when they were sad, but did he ever just ask them if they were okay out of the blue? No. He buried his face in his palm.  _ How much of an asshole am I? _

The air around the table shifted from amused to awkward in less than a second. Poseidon glanced between his fingertips and saw Hazel and Nico shifting awkwardly, Zeus rolling his eyes.

“Alright,” Zeus sighed, poorly concealing his exasperation, “we get it, you don’t want to talk about your problems. I don’t care. Can you just tell us what’s going on? I don’t want to see you mope around all the time.” 

Poseidon squinted at him, tiredness hitting him in a wave again. “What?”

Zeus looked very much like he wanted to strangle him. “You look like you just got blamed for committing mass genocide. What’s going on?”

Poseidon rolled his eyes, yawning. “I said nothing. I’m just tired.”

Zeus shook his head, obviously refraining from rolling his eyes. “Alright, but if you do some sort of action that makes it look like you're sad one more time I am going to strangle you.”

Poseidon breathed through his nose as a laugh. “Okay.” He rubbed his eyes and then removed his hands, blinking at his plate tiredly. Maybe he’d sleep during capture the flag. It wasn’t like he was going to do anything anyway.

“How tired are you?” Hades asked, amusement in his smile. He had dimples. Poseidon hadn’t noticed that before.

Poseidon huffed out a laugh again. “Pretty tired. Couldn’t get to sleep and then some kids woke me up early.”

“Oh yeah, I heard them too,” Nico said, scrunching his nose up. “You slept through it Dad, but they were right outside. Hazel woke up for a little bit but eventually went back to sleep.”

Poseidon blinked in surprise. He forgot Hazel slept in the Hades cabin. She just looked and acted so differently than the two of them it must’ve slipped Poseidon’s mind. Regardless, he nodded. “They were right outside mine, too.”

“What were they doing?” Zeus asked, mild amusement in his tone. He took a sip of Coke. Well—Poseidon assumed it was Coke. It might’ve been Pepsi or something.

“Just playing some game or something,” Nico grunted, stabbing his fries into ketchup. “It sounded like a war game. Not the best idea around a bunch of teenagers that just fought in one.”

Poseidon hummed. He hadn’t thought about that. He was right, especially if they woke up because of it. Their brains wouldn’t be capable of registering things properly yet.

“They’re just kids,” Hazel countered thoughtfully, “they probably didn’t know any better. I’m sure one of their siblings will tell them not to do it again.”

“Yeah,” Nico agreed, though Poseidon could tell it was reluctant. There was a pause, before: “How was Will today?”

Poseidon stared blankly at his fries for a moment before realizing he was the one being addressed. “Oh,” he said, looking up quickly, “he seems fine. Why?”

“Just wondering. He’s been a little stressed lately.” He took a sip of his pop.

Poseidon frowned. He hadn’t noticed anything too off. Had it been? He supposed he didn’t know Will well enough to tell if something was off, so maybe. “Why?”

“He feels like he’s not doing anything,” Nico explained, stabbing more ketchup with fries. “There’s so little patients now and everything. I told him it’s okay to relax but he doesn’t listen to me. He’s working on so many new projects to keep busy he’s ended up just causing himself more stress.”

Poseidon frowned.  _ Hm. _ “Is he alright?”

“I think so, yeah.” Nico clenched and unclenched his jaw, though Poseidon wasn’t sure if it was for a reason or not. “I’ve been talkin’ to him and stuff. I probably shouldn’t be telling you this.”

“It’s alright,” Hades said softly, giving Nico an encouraging look. Well, a Hades-encouraging look. He looked normal with the tiniest amount encouragement in his eyes one could imagine. “You should just try your best to comfort him and let him know you’re there for him.”

Nico raised an eyebrow, the emotion in his eyes a little unreadable. “When did you become Mister Advice?”

Hades glanced at Poseidon briefly. “Oh I’ve always been, it’s just come out recently.”

Nico didn’t laugh, so Poseidon did to ease the sudden stiffness in the air. He didn’t know why, but Nico seemed to not appreciate the comment very much. Poseidon felt like they knew something he didn’t. Maybe it was supposed to be that way. He hoped it wasn’t too serious, both of them were horrendous with feelings.

Thankfully, lunch ended pretty soon after that. The rest of the time they ate went pretty normal, but everyone could tell it was forced. Poseidon wondered if it was just Nico’s reaction or if he was part of the problem too. 

Lots of campers in the surrounding tables were far done with their food by now, but everyone stayed until the end of lunch on capture the flag days. After the designated time period ended, a representative from each of the two main teams came to the front to select the cabins they wanted on their side. 

Speaking of which, Poseidon was both relieved and dreadful as Annabeth and Clarisse walked to the front of the pavilion. They both had strong walks, with Annabeth’s more confident and Clarisse’s more determined. It was kind of sad: Poseidon looked like a puppy that had been kicked too many times whenever he walked now. Two teenage girls had a better walk than a going-on-five thousand year old man. Clarisse was a little chubbier than Annabeth, but she was also more muscular, if that made sense. She looked quite a bit like her father, though not as much as some of her other siblings.

“Alright everybody,” Annabeth called. The pavilion fell silent, as if everyone’s ability to talk had been cut off simultaneously. It was so strict Poseidon almost felt the sound waves fall to the ground with a sensible ‘thump’. “We’ll be picking teams, remember to listen carefully!” She didn’t have to shout anymore, but she did anyway. Poseidon supposed it got the point across.

“If I say your cabin you’re on the Ares team and you come with me,” Clarrisse shouted, “if Annabeth calls your cabin you’re on the Athena team and you go with her! Understand?” 

A chorus of “yes”’s and “yep”’s followed after her.

Annabeth nodded. “Alright! Athena cabin, you’re with me!” 

About thirteen heads of blonde curly hair stood, scraping their benches back and walking up to Annabeth in orderly, strict fashion. The entire cabin looked intense: most with brows furrowed and a sharp frown on their face, their eyes just as intense as their mother’s. Though there were a few darker skin tones in there, they all still, miraculously, had blonde hair and very few differing features. It made Poseidon shudder. Carbon copies of their mother.

“Ares, you’re with me!” Clarisse shouted.

The Ares cabin was a different story. Many different hair pigments and facial features stood, the only similarity being they all looked mean. Other than Frank. Frank stood out like a sore thumb (in a good way) with a nice looking smile and a slowly-getting-chubbier face. They scraped their benches back with a cheer, stumbling up to Clarisse with their fists pumped, a few of them already wrestling one another. It made Poseidon smile a little bit, mostly out of amusement. Just like their father, too.

“Apollo, you’re with us!” Annabeth shouted again. 

The Apollo was a similar story to the Athena cabin: mostly blonde hair, though with a few acceptions, standing up in an orderly fashion but not necessarily a strict one. The whole lot of them were attractive, but Poseidon supposed that had a lot to do with Apollo’s ‘type’. They let out a few quieter cheers, bright smiles making Poseidon squint a little. Maybe Will made all of them brush their teeth for five minutes. John was easy to spot in the crowd, head and shoulders above pretty much everyone else. He was smiling too, and Poseidon noticed his real smile was a lot nicer than his fake one.

“Hermes, you know the drill!”

The Hermes cabin let out a few whoops and cheers, but they were far more light-hearted than the Ares ones. Hermes was also pretty diverse, but they all had the slanted up eyebrows and a somewhat elfish face. A lot of them had inherited their father’s infamous curly hair, but Poseidon saw a few straight-haired ones. They gave each other noogies and wet willies as they went up, making the other cabins laugh. Poseidon was among them. The Hermes cabin seemed like one of the nicest, even if that wasn’t a hard feat.

“Hephaestus!” Annabeth called. 

There weren't a lot of Hephaestus kids, but Poseidon knew why Annabeth chose them: almost all of them were over 6 feet, with big shoulders and arms the size of Poseidon’s entire body. Leo was an exception, but Poseidon knew the boy was quick. At least, he had heard Percy say that one time. They seemed pretty calm, waving at the other cabins while they cheered.

“Zeus!” Clarisse called.

There wasn’t a difference in the volume of the campers' clapping or cheers, but Poseidon could tell they were a little weirded out by hearing his name said aloud, especially so obviously. Zeus didn’t seem to mind, grinning as the cheers grew louder when he stood. He gave Poseidon a pat on the shoulder and walked up to Clarisse, someone immediately engaging him in a conversation. Poseidon watched, knowing his envy was poorly concealed. His younger brother always did get the good breaks. He looked powerful standing up there, not godly enough for an outsider to think he was one but confident enough to where they might assume he was friends with one. He was still handsome, Poseidon noticed a little bitterly, maybe not as much as usual but still above average. Guiltily, he sometimes wished he  _ was _ his little brother. Life would be a lot easier.

Annabeth cleared her throat. “Hades!”

This time there was a definite decrease in volume, a few people letting out quiet gasps. Hades, Nico and Hazel stood, Hazel visibly uncomfortable and Nico visibly annoyed. Hades seemed to take it alright, giving Poseidon’s shoulder a squeeze before walking up to the Athena team with his children. There were no cheers this time, and a few kids backed away as the three approached, hiding behind their other siblings. Anger curled in Poseidon’s gut. What the fuck did they ever do to them? All three of them saved their asses in either war, one in both.

He didn’t have time to say anything (Poseidon snorted. As if he would’ve anyway) because Clarisse called out: “Demeter!”

The Demeter cabin stood, and dread curled in Poseidon’s gut. He had been lucky these past few times: people had forgotten it was just him and not Percy so they picked the Poseidon cabin by accident. He’d never been the last one. Now, well, it wasn’t looking too great. The Demeter cabin was pretty much as expected: all round-faced, nice looking kids with dirt on their camp shirts and dusty knees. A few of them had flowers braided into their hair, while others had flower crowns. Poseidon appreciated the aesthetic, but he thought it might be a little impractical for capture the flag.

“Aphrodite!” Annabeth called. 

More dread curled in Poseidon’s gut.  _ Oh please don’t make me the last one, please don’t make me the last one, please don’t make me the last one… _ The Aphrodite cabin was about as big as the Athena one, but all of them looked like they walked right out of a magazine. Most of them also looked like they had a stick shoved up their ass, but some of them actually looked kind of nice. Piper was there, holding hands with a boy that looked about eight to ten, trailing behind her a little and looking at the campers in fear. Poseidon felt bad for him. It must’ve sucked to be so young and have to play against almost-adults.

Now it was just him and the Dionysus cabin, which had four members. Poseidon tried not to close his eyes, his cheeks already burning. He was a good few tables away from the Dionysus one so it was already blatantly obvious he was alone, but officially being the last one was going to be mortifying.

“Dionysus!” Clarisse called.

Poseidon’s face fell and he stared down at his lap, face burning to the point of pain. People cheered them, but he didn’t bother looking up. He already heard the snickers, and a few “look at Poseidon”’s. He wrung his hands so tight together they tuned white. He felt like the protagonist in a middle school movie being the last person picked for dodgeball. That’s essentially what it was, just without the dodgeball part.

“Poseidon!” Annabeth called. Poseidon heard a little sympathy in her voice as she did it.

He stood, not looking up from his feet. Some people cheered, but it was pretty obvious it was mockingly. Someone shoved him as he walked by the Ares team, and he turned back and glared. The person pretended to be scared, evoking a laugh from his friends around him. Poseidon breathed through his nose, looking away. 

“Hey, Poseidon—” Zeus tried to reach for him, but Poseidon brushed him off. He didn’t really feel like talking to his little brother right now.

He got to the Athena team and walked straight to the back, past Hades and everyone else. He didn’t want to be seen right now. Being honest, being invisible would bring him more joy than many things ever had or could.

“Hey—!” Hades called, but Poseidon kept on walking.

A few kids gave him a sympathetic smile, but most of them completely ignored his existence. He was very much aware of the head of long red hair near the front and steered almost too-clear of it. Riley hadn’t talked to him since her little show at the campfire, but Poseidon didn’t want to risk losing that streak.

“Alright team!” Annabeth called, though Poseidon still didn’t look up. “Our planning spot is the lake!”

Most of the team cheered and Poseidon was rammed into as they enthusiastically started the trek to the lake.  _ Shit, I’m at the front now.  _ He moved to the side and let people pass him, still walking but slowly. He sighed, hoping the Hephaestus kids blocked him from Hades’ sight. He appreciated his brother checking in on him and making sure he was alright, but he didn’t really want that right now.

“Hey.”

Poseidon jumped, whipping his head to the side. Annabeth was there, looking ahead but obviously addressing him. They were about the same height, though every time Poseidon saw her it seemed like the person that was taller changed. Today it was her that had the height advantage, though she had hiking boots on. “Oh, hi,” he said, also looking ahead.

“How are you? I haven’t talked to you in a while.” She had a stern look on her face, but she always did so Poseidon hoped that was just her resting face. She sounded pretty light-hearted so he wasn’t too worried, if anything. He was a little surprised she asked, but he wasn’t going to complain. She wasn’t expecting a genuine answer, which made it a lot easier.

“I’m good, thanks. How are you?”

“I’m good. Are you fine with participating this time?”

Poseidon looked at her, brows furrowed. “What?”

If Poseidon hadn’t seen emotions for over four thousand years he wouldn’t have picked up on it, but she had a little awkwardness in her eyes. “Are you fine with being a main part of the game? I know it didn’t go too well the first time, but I could have some of the Hephaestus kids with you, or just strong people in general.”

“Oh,” Poseidon said, still a little confused, “yeah, I’m fine. What are you gonna get me to do?”

“Well,” she said, pondering a little, “I was going to get you to be our main runner. I overheard Clarisse saying that she wanted to make Zeus guard the flag because no camper would want to fight him. And I know you don’t want to fight him either, but he doesn’t want to fight you, which gives you a good advantage.”

“Oh,” Poseidon said, eyebrows flying up. There was a beat of silence while he thought. He appreciated the offer, but it didn't make a whole lot of logical sense. “I’d love to, but I’m not very fast and if he does want to fight then I’ll lose in, like, two seconds.”

“So you don’t want to?” Annabeth asked, turning towards him and gazing at him intensely.

“No,” Poseidon said, looking away, “I want to, it’s just I don’t think...y’know, logically, I’m the best candidate.”

“No offence, Lord Poseidon,” Annabeth said, “but I’m a daughter of the goddess of wisdom and you’re the god of fish. I’ve thought this through, trust me.”

An emotion somewhere between offence and amusement filled Poseidon at her words, but he nodded nonetheless. “Well...okay. What do I do if Zeus ends up fighting me, though? I’m not exactly…” he gestured to himself and trailed off, the bones in his shoulders visible through his hoodie.

“He won’t want to,” Annabeth responded confidently, looking ahead with a determined nod. “I’ve been watching you three since I overheard Clarisse. He won’t lay a hand on you.”

Poseidon raised an eyebrow, thinking of the night he came back late from the convenience store. “Are you sure you’re not mixing up Zeus and Hades?”

Annabeth let out a breath through her nose, though Poseidon couldn’t tell if it was a huff or a laugh. “They’re pretty hard to mix up. And yes, I’m sure. Just don’t insult him and you’ll be fine.”

Poseidon looked ahead, a little anxiety curling in his gut. Even if what she’s saying was true, other campers were not Zeus. They wouldn’t even have to think he was doing something important for him to be jumped. “And you’re sure there will be people there to guard me?”

“Yes,” Annabeth said, “we always have guards for our main runners. I’ll give you a strong one and a fast one.”

Poseidon stared ahead for another moment. “Fine, okay. I’ll do it.”

Annabeth smiled. “Perfect.” She started to walk away, before turning back briefly. “Oh, and if anyone gives you any trouble, come to me.”

Poseidon furrowed his brow, catching her eyes. “Won’t I have the guards though?”

Annabeth gave him a slight smirk, but it was warm, not sly. “I don’t mean just capture the flag.” She disappeared into the crowd of campers.

Poseidon looked ahead. They were almost to the lake now, with the water glittering in the high-noon sun. There were no kayakers now, all of the campers gathered up for their friday ritual. Poseidon wondered how long they’d been doing it.

When they did reach the lake, Annabeth told everyone to get on the sand while she stood ahead of them in the grass. They complied, Poseidon still alone at the edge of the crowd. He backed up a little, just so the water gently lapped the heels of his shoes. He couldn’t feel it, but it was still comforting. Gods, he missed the water.

“Alright everyone!” Annabeth yelled, clapping her hands together. “Game plan!”

Poseidon wondered briefly if the other team would be able to hear her, but in the end he didn’t really care.

“I need you all in a line!” She made a line gesture with her hand. “I’m going to sort you into two teams: defence and offence!”

Everyone complied, and Poseidon felt very much like he was in some sort of military camp. Everyone had fallen silent as soon as Annabeth started to speak, and it remained so as they gathered in a line. Poseidon was the last in line, next to a bordering on seven-foot tall Hephaestus kid. Well—Poseidon assumed he was a Hephaestus kid. He had that kind of look about him. 

“Alright, I’ll start down here,” Annabeth said, walking in the opposite direction of where Poseidon stood. “Don’t move anywhere yet, just remember what team you’re on!”

She reached the end of the line and started listing off positions. The first few people were offence, but then it remained pretty consistent of one defence, one offence, a few variations here and there. Her voice was loud and clear, so not only did you know what team you were on, so did everyone else. Most of the really big kids were defence, but a few of the more muscular ones were put on offence. Poseidon watched as she came down the line, some light hair falling out of her ponytail. When she reached Poseidon, she jabbed his shoulder and called out offence. Thankfully, no one seemed to notice because he was behind the Hephaestus kid. Which meant no whispers or weird looks—

“Alright, Poseidon step forward!” Annabeth backed up so she was in front of the line, beckoning him with her hands.

Well. Poseidon furrowed his brows at her, trying his best to convey that that was really not a good idea as best as he could without saying anything. She pretended not to notice, only raising an eyebrow and gesturing more aggressively. Poseidon internally sighed, trying not to look at anyone as he stepped forward and stood beside Annabeth, clearly visible to everyone in the line. He felt Hades’ stare boring into him and tried his best not to look anywhere in that direction.

“Alright everyone!” Annabeth called. Poseidon flinched a little bit, her voice booming next to his ear. “As most of you probably know, this is Poseidon! He will be out main runner this round, his goal to get the main flag! If you see it, do not attempt to go for it! Inform Poseidon, or if you think someone else would be more capable of doing so, inform them so they can tell him! Remember: this game is not about playing the hero, it’s about winning!”

“Why is he the main runner?” someone asked. Murmurs of agreement filled the air, and Poseidon shifted uncomfortably.

“I have my reasons,” Annabeth replied shortly, glancing at Poseidon briefly before returning her gaze to the line in front of her. “However I need—”

“Hold on, you just said this game isn’t about being the hero,” someone piped up again. “I know he’s had a rough time but that doesn’t mean he’s gonna make us win.”

More agreement met his words, and Poseidon blushed. He leaned in close to Annabeth and lowered his voice. “They’re right, I can just go to the corner of the woods again—”

“No,” Annabeth barked, glaring at him. He took a small step back. All other voices fell silent. “I know why I’m doing this and I know it will work.” She turned back to the rest of the team. “When was the last time I lost again?”

No one spoke and she continued. “Poseidon will be our main runner and nothing is going to change that. However, I need two guards for him. The role of these guards is to make sure that no member of the other team attacks Poseidon or delays his attempts of getting the flag. However, once in view of the flag, you are to let Poseidon do his job alone. It does not matter your opinion on Poseidon, you must protect him at all costs.” Poseidon thought that was a little dramatic, but he didn’t say anything. “Are there any volunteers?”

After a few seconds of debating silence, a few people raised their hands iffley. Hades’ hand, however, had shot up before Annabeth could even finish the ‘v’ sound. Annabeth scanned the line, giving each person with their hand up a scrutinizing once-over. When she got to the last person she glared determindley at Hades. “Hades, you can be the first one. But you have to let him go on his own once he sees the flag, understood?”

Hades’ eyebrow raised slightly, but he nodded.

Annabeth nodded too, and then looked back out at the rest of the line. She gazed at them all intensely for another moment before calling out: “Rile—”

Poseidon’s heart stopped and he instinctively grabbed Annabeth’s wrist, eyes wide. Annabeth snapped her eyes to him, brows furrowing further. He shook his head frantically, throat closing in dread. A brief look of confusion passed her features before realization dawned on them. She cleared her throat and then looked back. “John, you can be the other one.”

Poseidon let out a huge breath of relief, even as snickers erupted from the area where Riley stood. They let out a few joking “Aw”’s, and Annabeth rolled her eyes. Now, John wasn’t exactly Poseidon’s first pick either, but he would take anyone over Riley. Besides, John would be pretty capable of guarding him. He was pretty skinny, but if he had abs Poseidon assumed he was in well enough shape to fight someone off. 

“Alright,” Annabeth continued, “Hades, John, come stand next to Poseidon.”

  
Both were enthusiastic to do so, though Poseidon was the only one who could tell that Hades was being enthusiastic. It was just the sudden, barely-noticeable smile and the slight bounce as he started walking. John’s enthusiasm was more of just a smile at Poseidon, like friends do. Poseidon wasn’t sure exactly how he felt about him and John being ‘friends’, but he kinda seemed nice near the end of the shift today. He was willing to assume they just got off on a bad foot.

The two of them reached Poseidon and Hades took a long step to ensure he was the one right beside him. John stood next to Hades, and Poseidon thought it was kind of funny. They looked like stepping stones as stairs. Poseidon was up to Hades’ collarbone, Hades was up to John’s nose.

“Alright, if I call your name go to that tree over there!” Annabeth pointed to a small tree a couple yards away. “Liala, Jack Braton, Jack Wang, Sarah Nielson! You four are going to be guarding the guards of the flag!”

Four people exited the line, looking quite proud of themselves. Poseidon had heard that that position was almost as honourable as being a guard of the flag itself. 

Annabeth continued. “Nico, Sanuli, you’re over by that rock!” She pointed to a boulder embedded in sand about 10 feet away. “You’re guarding the flag!”

Nico nodded, a small smirk on his face. Poseidon knew why he was chosen: not a lot of people wanted to go up against someone with underworld-y powers and whose father had built up a reputation of being protective over those close to him. It did not help, or helped depending on how you looked at it, that said father was Hades, one of the most feared names in all of camp. Maybe the most, next to Kronos and Gaea. The other person that came out was a girl who was more built than most men, and Poseidon had a good feeling he knew why she was chosen too.

“Alright, James Harun, Delilah, and Jackson you’re going to be guarding the big oak tree with the markings on it! You’re job is to try to make it seem like that’s where we’re hiding the flag! I’ll tell you where we’re actually hiding it after everyone’s sorted!”

Poseidon could tell the name Jackson amused her as it rolled off her tongue. Poseidon had heard her refer to Percy like that a lot of times whenever he decided to  ~~ spy ~~ check up on them. 

She went on to sort everyone into groups, putting them all in separate places but still within ear shot. She then told each group where they were to go, using a bunch of vague terms like “the red place” and “the pine tree” that somehow the campers seemed to understand. Poseidon assumed there were a lot of red-tones places and pine trees in the woods, but hey, maybe he was wrong. He was instructed to start by where they were placing the flag and immediately go search for the other team’s. She also advised making it look like they were guarding something if a person on the Ares team saw him. After all, they were a trio, it wouldn’t be too weird to an outsider to see them standing by some random tree. They would most likely assume they were faking it, yes, but that was better than assuming Poseidon was on offence. Annabeth told Poseidon that Clarisse may not have been book smart, but she knew battle like the back of her hand. If she found out Poseidon was the one trying to get the flag, she’d take Zeus out immediately knowing he would go easy on his brother.

Poseidon almost snorted. Even though it had been a good month and a half since he and Zeus had wanted each other’s heads, it still felt weird to hear that Zeus would go too easy on him in a fight. He was willing to start World War Three against him a few years ago.

“Alright, everyone come together!” 

Poseidon, Hades and John didn’t have to move, but everyone else did, moving away from their designated spots to huddle with the rest of the team. Poseidon watched Riley out of the corner of his eye, but she seemed to pay him no mind, a bored look on her face. He really didn’t know why he was still scared of her. She genuinely had only been rude to him once. Okay, maybe scared wasn’t the right word —he wouldn’t hit a girl, but if she tried to kill him he could probably defend himself. He guessed he just felt small around her. Which was ridiculous, considering he held more power than she could wrap her head around. But still. He let her get to him.

Once everyone was gathered, Annabeth made sure they could all hear her before she got into her explanation. “Okay, we’re putting the flag by the stream in the same tree. I know, we did that last time. But we haven’t put the flag in the same place twice in a row since last summer, they won’t expect it. Nico, I’m going to need you to be real subtle about being a guard. I’ve used you as a guard many times, and while it works, that means they’re gonna suspect that you and Sanuli are the real guards.” Nico nodded. “As for Jackie and Will, I need you two to pretend you’re really bad actors and are obviously guarding the flag. No I don’t mean saying you’re guarding it out loud, I mean like always glancing up, snickering at each other occasionally and then shutting up quick like you weren’t supposed to do that, et cetera. Will, I want you to be real obvious that you’re a guard. I’ve used you a lot because no one wants to hit you, I want them to assume I’m using that strategy again.” Will nodded as well, blushing a little at the ‘no one wants to hit you’ part. Poseidon wondered if it was because Will was nice or because people didn’t want to go to the infirmary and not be healed because Will didn’t like them or was injured himself. Probably a mix of both.

Annabeth continued. “And if any of you see Poseidon running with the flag, take it from him. I know why Poseidon should retrieve it, but if you think you’d be faster getting it to our side, go for it. And he has Hades and John, but don’t be afraid to intervene if you see campers trying to get at him either. He’s our most important player in this round.”

She didn’t say it in a caring or warm way, but warmth still flooded Poseidon and he smiled goofily. It had been a while since someone thought he was important. It had been awhile since he got a compliment. Well—Hades complimented him, but Hades just said that kind of stuff to him, he probably didn’t really mean it. Poseidon still appreciated it, but it was a little more warming when it sounded sincere. Not that he thought Hades was a liar. Oh, whatever.

“Tell me again why he’s the main runner?” someone asked. This time it was Riley, her voice coloured with annoyance.

Annabeth glared at her. “Because I know who’s guarding the flag on the other team and it makes the most sense. Will you all shut up about it? Is there something wrong with him being the main runner?”

Poseidon could see a lot of people about to say something, but shut up when they saw Annabeth’s glare. Poseidon felt like Annabeth’s child.

“Good,” Annabeth said. “Now, our strategy is not complex this time. Simply search for the flag, tell Poseidon if you find it, and aid him once he has it. For my defence, don’t be afraid to hit people, most know better than to take it personally. You have two of the big three on your team, you don’t want to make fools of yourselves, do you?”

A few people shook their heads but most remained unresponsive.

“You don’t,” Annabeth answered for them. “I know there’s nothing too special about this round, but we still have to try our hardest. There’s always a threat of another battle or war, and for some of you this is the only real action-training you'll get. So remember what I told you, and let’s go.”

The team cheered and Annabeth spun on her heel, guiding them towards the woods. Poseidon trailed after her, not exactly the most eager. Kids started talking animatedly again, most looking excited but some looking as dreadful as Poseidon felt. He really didn’t want to get jumped.

“Do you know why she picked you?” Hades asked. “Not that you’re not a good choice, she just seemed very adamant about it being you.”

Poseidon was glad to find that his previous wishes to not speak to Hades were gone. “Apparently Zeus is guarding the flag on the Ares team. She thinks he won’t fight me so I’ll be able to get the flag quicker.”

Hades raised an eyebrow, but then it went back down and he got a ‘oh, that makes sense’ look on his face. “How would she know he doesn't want to fight you?”

“Apparently she’s been watching us or something. She sounds pretty confident.” Poseidon shrugged. “I don’t know about it though. I mean, he did like...y’know. After I came home late that one time.”

“Yeah, but he won’t now,” Hades said nonchalantly. “It’s a good plan.”

Poseidon looked up at him with a furrowed brow. “What do you mean? Why would he not do it now?”

Hades looked panicked for a second, like he had said something he wasn’t supposed to. The look was brief, and he covered it so quickly Poseidon wondered if he imagined it. Hades looked down at Poseidon and smiled. “You two are a lot closer now. He doesn’t show it very much, but he does care about you a lot, Poseidon.”

Poseidon looked ahead, brow still furrowed. He wasn’t sure what that first look meant, or whether he should be bothered by it. On one hand, it implied that Hades and Zeus knew something regarding him that he didn’t, but on the other it sounded like a good thing considering Hades was confident Zeus didn’t want to hit him. He also didn’t want to bring it up, considering the look was very brief and he’d seem like he was just reaching for things. “Yeah, I know. Still a little worried though,” was all he said.

“Yeah, but—”

“We’ll protect you,” John grinned, nudging him. “You’ll do fine.”

Poseidon looked up at the boy in surprise. He had thought he’d wandered off. Apparently not. He smiled. “Oh, thank you.”

When he looked back ahead, Hades was glaring at John like he’d just told Poseidon Hades’ darkest secret. Poseidon furrowed his brow again, shaking his head a little to get Hades’ attention. _What the fuck?_ Hades looked down at him and his glare faded away, instead a slight lift of his eyebrows replacing it. Poseidon frowned and beckoned for him to lean down. He did so, and Poseidon went on his toes. “Why were you glaring at him?” he whispered into his ear.

Hades rose. “Oh,” he said, giving a light, short laugh, “I wasn’t glaring at him. I was glaring at, uh…” He looked around. Poseidon cringed a little. He didn’t want John to know he was talking about him. “Riley. They were making fun of you.”

“I thought you were glaring at me,” John spoke up, brow as furrowed as Poseidon’s.

“Well you were mistaken,” Hades replied shortly.

If John was going to say anything else, that shut him up. Hades was not someone you wanted to argue with. The air was suddenly awkward and tense, and Poseidon was still frowning. It had seemed like Hades was glaring at John, and John said that he thought Hades was glaring at him too...but then again, John had shown himself capable of lying and Poseidon believed Hades more by default. And besides, what would he even be glaring at John about? John had only encouraged Poseidon. Although, he had interrupted him. Poseidon decided to just let it go, it didn’t really matter anyway. They'd probably forget about it as soon as the game started.

When they reached the woods, the Ares team was already there. Annabeth didn’t seem fazed by it, in fact she almost seemed smug. Chiron and Dionysus were standing beside them, each holding a flag, one red and one blue. The Athena team huddled a few feet away from the Ares team, leaving Chiron and Dionysus between them. Once everyone was silent, Annabeth and Clarisse broke off from their teams to meet in the middle and shake hands. Poseidon watched interestedly. The two girls made eye contact when they did it, and Annabeth’s knuckles turned white. He couldn’t see Clarisse’s, but he assumed hers were a similar case. They let go, and Chiron looked at them with amusement in his eyes.

“The blue team shall be Athena and the red shall be Ares,” the centaur said. He wasn’t yelling, but his voice projected as if he was. “Blue team gets the woods closest to where we are standing, red gets the woods on the opposite end. The stream extending to either end of the woods horizontally is the centre line. You will each be given five minutes to set up your flag and get in your positions. Once that five minutes is up, a horn will sound and the game will begin. Your aim is to capture the other team’s flag before they capture yours. The game will not stop until this task is completed, however it will be shut down at curfew and resumed tomorrow morning if the flags are not captured before then. Everything is fair game besides killing and maiming. If either of the mentioned happens and it is proven it was on purpose, the camper responsible will be exiled and not allowed to step foot on these grounds for the rest of their time on earth. Remember to have fun, your time begins now.”

Chiron handed the flag to Clarisse and Dionysus handed the flag to Annabeth. Adrenaline coursed through Poseidon’s blood as the entire camp let out a collective cheer, the sound booming up to the gods above. Despite his dread, a grin grew on his face and he stormed into the woods with the rest of the team, letting out a laugh in the midst of all the cheers. Hey, cheers just do that to people. A little anxiety was still collecting in his gut, but for now he focused on the adrenaline. Branches cracked beneath his feet, and Hades laughed as he let out a 'whoop!'. He hoped nobody actually thought he was excited. Oh well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> P.S Annabeth waited to pick Poseidon because a) she had to make sure the ares team actually picked zeus and b) she didn't want to make her plan too obvious. she assumed the ares cabin wouldn't pick Poseidon so she wasn't rushed to pick him right away. It would've been Suspicious TM  
> Also I know authors aren't supposed to explain anything outside of the text, but if ur wondering why Annabeth is a little warm to Poseidon it's because he reminds her of Percy, especially young Percy. That's my interpretation tho lol ur allowed to have ur own hjskdhk.  
> so yeah!! this chapter is split into two parts again, and this is the first one. the next one will be them playing the game :)  
> thanks for reading!!!! xx


	10. capture the flag actually

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> they capture. a flag. it is fun. yee
> 
> im very good at chapter summaries

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey y'all!!!! whats up bitches its me The Main Bitch. sorry for the delay again, I was typing on my iPad or whenever I could use my dad's laptop for most of this and online school is vibe checking me :( also quarantine is making it almost harder to be productive??? like I'm being productive but like,,,I just wanna lay in bed and watch youtube all day idk??? y'all are keeping me sane 
> 
> also a really big shooting happened an hour away from me on Sunday and I jus,,,I guess im shook idk. I've already mentioned it on Tumblr but my province has never had one before and Canada has them so rarely it was just a Shock TM yknow. 22 people died, which makes it the biggest shooting Canada's ever had :( they don't know why he did it either. the last big one was in Quebec in 1989 I think where a man killed 14 women at a university bc he didn't want them in the sciences so that was fun. but srsly yeah its just sad. a police officer died and she had two kids :((( my mom worked for the RCMP (which is kinda like Canada's federal police force) and the mounty looked a lot like her so it just screwed me up a little. her kids have the same age difference as me and my brother too. my mom wasn't in the field and I know it's not about me but still idk. sorry if this is upsetting I jus need to like talk about it ig idk sorry. I just feel really bad
> 
> also: tw!!!!!! mention of an eating disorder!!! also again sorry for the delay!!!!!

**_Previously on ‘Really? Again? My poor salad’: “Despite his dread, a grin grew on his face and he stormed into the woods with the rest of the team, letting out a laugh in the midst of all the cheers. Hey, cheers just do that to people.”_ **

He didn’t know where they were hiding the flag, so he just followed the crowd and hoped for the best. He kept Nico in sight, knowing he was one of the real guards for the flag. It felt very much like a pack, all of them running collectively at the same pace through the woods. They let out cheers that echoed like howls through the trees and crushed leaves under their feet as they ran. They ran and ran and ran, wind brushing his hair back and drying out his throat as he grinned. This part wasn’t bad, the whole hyping each other up as they got into their positions thing. It didn’t last very long, but it was nice. Sticks and dried leaves crunched under Poseidon’s feet and he hopped over branches and boulders like everyone else. He felt like everyone else, at that moment. Two months ago, if you told him he would appreciate that he would have called you crazy. A lot can change in two months.

Poseidon had never been a main part of the game, and he was surprised at how far in they were going. There were already people breaking off to get into their assigned positions, but the majority kept on sprinting. They ran farther and farther until Poseidon could no longer see camp through the trunks of trees, the leaves and brush too dense. It was at a light diagonal, so while they were getting steadily deeper, they were mostly just moving along the edge of the woods. Hades and John were right beside him, running at the same pace as if they were all glued together. By now, Poseidon had almost forgotten about the little encounter between the two, but it was in the back of his mind. He hoped there wasn’t going to be any tension. That might distract them. He really, really didn’t want to get beat up again.

After another couple minutes, they were down to about half their size, with campers breaking off and already getting into fighting stances. It was almost satisfying to watch, how everything ran like melted butter or a well oiled machine. Campers fell off in a smooth rhythm, giving fist bumps to their friends or siblings as they parted. Annabeth and Nico were at the front of the crowd, and Poseidon watched Nico a little strangely. It took him a moment to realize what seemed so wrong about the image, and it was the fact that he had never seen Nico run before. Admittedly, he hadn’t seen a lot of people run, but it struck him a little more with Nico. He was just so laid back, seeing him excited or pumped up about something was weird. Maybe weird was a little harsh, out of the ordinary would be better. He supposed he might’ve ran while they were fighting Chaos, but the memory was blurry to Poseidon. For some reason, a lot of that battle was blurry, along with some of the aftermath. He remembered key events and stuff, but he found the little details had slipped away, fuzzy in his memory. It was strange: he usually remembered any battle or conflict vividly. There must’ve been something wrong with his head that time.

Finally, Nico came to a halt, along with a few other people. Poseidon stopped in his tracks, and a few people behind him cursed. He ignored them and jogged up to where Nico, Annabeth and a few other people stood, Hades and John hot on his heels. Well—hot on his elbows, maybe. 

He came to a stand still around the rest of the people gathered, panting. He tried his best to breathe lighter so no one would think he was unathletic, but he highly doubted it worked. Everyone else was breathing normally, if a little flush to their cheeks, and he very much wished he could tell his lungs to shut up. Annabeth planted the flag on the ground, putting her other hand on her hip. 

“Okay,” she said, glaring at the trees above them with a calculating look in her eyes. There was a small stream beside them, and Poseidon tried his best to not look at it. He kind of succeeded. “We’re going to need a tall person to lift someone that’s good at climbing trees up to that branch up there.” She pointed to a thick branch, about nine feet above where the trunk started off from the ground. “That person will lodge it between those two branches—” she pointed vaguely to the top of the tree, “—the one with the little mark on it and the one with all those leaves protruding from it. Once they get it in there, they should try their best to weave it through the other branches so it’s harder to get and then conceal it with leaves as best as they can. Remember: the other team can still travel through trees, we only have a slight advantage by having it so high up. It’s good to make it hard to get, it’s better to make it hard to see. If they don’t know where it is, how are they going to get it, right?”

She looked down from the tree and to them, eyes intense. Poseidon nodded frantically. He did not want to see that gaze. Gods, why did Athena kids look so much like their mother? It was a little hypocritical coming from him, but still. Gross.

“Alright, is everyone clear?” she asked. Everyone nodded, and she did too. “Alright, who wants to lift and who wants to climb?”

“I can lift,” John offered. Well, it wasn’t really an offer. Everyone kind of expected him to, even if no one spoke.

Annabeth nodded. “Thank you, Jonathan. Who wants to climb? We had Grace last time but she’s on defence by the red space now.”

John looked at Nico awkwardly. “Uh, I could probably lift di Angelo.”

“No,” Nico said flatly.

John made a facial expression that looked exactly like he was saying ‘alright then’. Poseidon snickered.

Annabeth rolled her eyes, though Poseidon saw some amusement in there. “You probably can’t lift me—” Poseidon refrained from giving a ‘that’s iffy’ gesture with his hand, knowing Annabeth would probably glare at him and he really did not need that right now, “—do you mind lifting Poseidon? You have to be really careful though, our main runner can’t be injured.”

“Oh,” John glanced down at him, a small smile on his face, “yeah, of course.”

“Hold on,” Poseidon said, furrowing his brow and shaking his head back, raising his hands up like he was surrendering, “I didn’t agree to this.”

Annabeth looked at him with a disappointed expression, letting out a little sigh and tilting her head. “Please? Sanuli’s scared of heights and is probably heavier than you anyway.” She looked at Sanuli quickly, eyes wide. “In a muscle way, not a fat way obviously.” 

Sanuli just smiled, brushing her off. Poseidon was grateful she didn’t seem to take it as an insult. 

He, however, did. “Well…” he paused, searching for a reason he shouldn’t do it. In the end, the best one he could come up with was that he just didn’t want to. Ugh. “Whatever,” he mumbled.

“Thank you, Poseidon,” Annabeth said, her voice the second-warmest he’s heard it. 

Poseidon sighed, walking up to the tree.  _ So Nico gets to not do it ‘cause he doesn’t want to but I have to ‘cause I’m “mature” and should “take one for the team” and an “adult” and “have no body fat whatsoever”. Ugh.  _ He didn’t say that out loud, and walked up to the tree with John behind him. He stared up at it, not really knowing what to do now.

“Should I just, like—” John put his arms around Poseidon’s waist from behind and he jumped, looking back. “Sorry,” John said sheepishly, catching his eyes for a brief moment, “I just gotta like...I don’t know.” He tightened his grip and Poseidon blushed, looking away. He couldn’t tell if he was embarrassed from the fact that someone he didn’t know that well was hugging him in a usually-perceived-as-intimate way or the fact that he knew John could feel his ribs through his hoodie. God, he looked like a skeleton. He had before but after that whole Chaos kidnapping thing, he had never recovered. He hoped he didn’t tell Clara and he was suddenly going to the infirmary for anorexia therapy instead of shifts. 

“Okay, so just, like, walk up the trunk of the tree, okay?” John asked. Poseidon nodded, though he wasn’t quite sure how he felt about that. John hoisted him up and he let out a “woah!”, expecting to just be given a little boost and not completely lifted up. Nonetheless, he planted one foot on the trunk and then the other, slowly walking his way up. 

When his feet were above his head, he looked at John weirdly. “Uh, okay what do I do now?”

“Uh...I guess I’ll walk you in closer?” He did so, and Poseidon’s chest was soon crushed against his thighs. “Okay, and uh…” He looked around awkwardly. “Do you mind if I...I kinda have to touch...uh, to get you, like, boosted…”

Poseidon’s face caught on fire, and Hades stepped forward. “Okay, I’m sure there’s a more efficient way to do this—”

“Wait, they’re almost there,” Annabeth said, and Poseidon could tell she was trying her best to sound professional and not let amusement slip into her voice. 

“Um...yeah, I guess,” Poseidon responded, knowing his face was probably a beet red.

“Okay, sorry.” He could hear embarrassment in John’s voice too. “I can try mostly your hip bones if you want but I’ll probably have to…”

“It’s fine,” Poseidon assured quickly, wanting to get this over with. Their five minutes was probably almost up anyway. 

“Alright.” John walked in closer to make sure the pressure was enough so that Poseidon wouldn’t fall, and then moved his hands from his torso to his hips. Poseidon tried not to cringe. He’s pretty sure he would’ve preferred his ass over his hips. John’s hands were big, and they went...pretty far. He tried to ignore it and let himself be pushed up, reaching for the branch. His arms just fell short, as much as he tried to extend them. “I can’t...quite...reach—” he grunted, brow furrowing. His fingers were white with how hard he tried to extend them, but it still wasn’t enough. 

John pushed him up by the ass, and he got ahold of the branch, hauling himself up. He used the trunk as a brace and plopped onto the branch, breathing heavy.

Sanuli and John let out a little cheer, while Annabeth smiled and Nico pretended he wasn’t smiling. Hades had the same unreadable expression he had that night walking home from the campfire, if a little different. Before Poseidon could decipher it, Hades noticed he was looking and concealed it, giving him a smile. Poseidon smiled too, trying to ignore the look and letting out a relieved laugh. Hey, he didn’t die or fall and break something. Someone grabbing his ass wasn’t the worst thing that could happen. Besides, at least it was for a short amount of time. Thank god he was wearing sweatpants, trying to get up the trunk in those god awful tight jeans Hera had “gifted” him would’ve been mortifying. Not only would they have probably ripped, they probably would’ve rode down a little too far, giving John a not-so-nice view. His hoodie had ridden up at some point, but he thought it might’ve just been that weird space between your bottom rib and your hip bone where there’s not really any bone to see so that was good.

Annabeth walked up and handed him the flag. “See, that wasn’t so bad. Someone even grabbed your ass for you.”

Poseidon laughed as he took the flag. He hadn’t heard Annabeth make jokes that often, but they were funny enough when she did. “Yeah.”

“I think that was a personal win for me,” John said, joking as he winked. “You got quite a nice ass there, pal.”

Sanuli and Annabeth laughed, while Nico allowed himself a smile and John tried not to laugh at his own joke. Poseidon laughed a little bit, knowing he wasn’t serious but still a little uncomfortable.  _ Aw c’mon, don’t be a prude. It was funny.  _

Hades did not seem to find it funny, not necessarily glaring at John but giving him the ‘Hades stare’. The ‘Hades stare’ was the kind of stare that was basically a glare, but with less anger and more scrutiny. It edged deep into your soul and killed you slowly if you got it for too long. That was a metaphor, but Poseidon would not be surprised if that had actually happened at one point. He looked almost like a parent when you tell them you tried drugs or failed a test, but instead of disappointment it was like ‘you have done every wrong in the world and you will never be able to redeem yourself from it’. Poseidon felt a little twinge of sympathy for John, but it warmed him that Hades didn’t take jokes like that directed towards him lightly. He didn’t take any jokes targeted towards Poseidon lightly, but he hadn’t quite brought out the Hades stare yet. It made Poseidon feel protected, which was a good feeling, even if he swore day and night he didn’t need it. No one believed him, he should probably stop saying that. Besides, when he was in godly form he knew he didn’t need it, but why should he not want it?

Poseidon turned towards the branches above him, pushing himself up on the branch and crawling through the leaves and sticks. He got poked a few times, but he was able to get the flag lodged in there fairly successfully. He moved a few leaves around to conceal it and then struggled back down to the first branch. He plopped onto it, landing on his butt a little more painfully than he intended. He looked down at the ground below him, swinging his legs slightly. “Uh…”

John took a step forward, but Hades beat him to it. “I’ll help you get down.”

John widened his eyes in a little bit of a mocking way, but Poseidon thought he was the only one who noticed. Hades stepped close up to the branch and held his arms up, going on his toes. Poseidon braced himself by holding one of his hands and then slowly edging himself off the branch until he could grab Hades’ shoulder and plopped down. Hades caught him, holding him bridal style for a moment before placing him down gently. He smelled like the deodorant camp provided and also somewhat like Nico. Maybe they shared a body spray or the sheets in the Hades cabin smelled musky or something. It was a nice kind of musk. Hazel smelled noticeably sweet, so he assumed she used some sort of body spray. Maybe Piper lended it to her from the Aphrodite cabin or something. He could feel Hades’ hard chest for a moment, though why he registered that confused him. He never used to notice that stuff. When his feet were on the ground, his cheeks were warm. He didn’t know why. 

“Alright, thank you Poseidon, John, Hades,” Annabeth said, giving a nod to each of them. Hades did not leave Poseidon’s side after he placed him down. “I’ll be on offence, but I’m starting down by the maple trees. The sound should ring any minu—” A loud ringing sound echoed through the woods, sounding not too dissimilar from a school bell. It was followed by roaring cheers and battle cries. Annabeth smiled and started running. “—Good luck!”

And then she was off, and Nico and Sanuli’s facial expressions dropped, walking up to the tree while unsheathing their swords. Poseidon watched them for a moment, before Nico made eye contact and he shook himself out of it. “Oh, right! Let’s go!”

He started running, taking out his little ball (which had appeared as lunch started) and pressing it so it turned into a sword. John laughed and followed, while Hades bumped into him lightly. He kept Annabeth’s advice in the back of his mind: make it look like you’re guarding. So far, he wasn’t doing a very good job of that, but he was pretty sure there were no members of the other team this close to the flag already. 

As he was running, a light tingling grew on his cheeks and he brought his hand up to touch it. It wasn’t like he was blushing, it was more pringly than that. His brow furrowed and he looked up at Hades. The older’s brow was furrowed as well, attempting to look down at his own cheeks with confusion in his eyes. Two lines were forming on each of his cheekbones, both a periwinkle shade of blue.  _ Oh. That’s how they differentiated between teams. _ Admittedly, Poseidon hadn’t even thought of that.

“It’s two lines,” Poseidon informed him, already out of breath again. “They’re both blue, it’s probably to let the other players know which team you’re on.” 

“Oh,” Hades responded, looking ahead normally again. “Thanks, I didn’t know what that was.” 

Poseidon smiled and nodded. They raced through the woods, jumping over tree stumps and boulders while keeping an eye out for any red-team campers that had decided to take their shot right away. There was a pretty big problem, however: Poseidon didn’t really have a plan. Well—he didn’t have a plan at all, to be blunt. He had absolutely no clue how he was supposed to find the flag, nor how he was supposed to make it look like he was guarding while he was on the other side of the stream. Did he have to lay low? Or should he just do the barge-in-and-hope-for-the-best thing? He assumed Annabeth would kill him for that, so probably not the latter.

“Where should we go?” he asked, stepping up on a branch to get over it. Hades and John stepped over it easily. 

“Probably over to the far edge of the woods,” John suggested. “Then come in from the side. They would probably know you were the main runner right away if you just barged right through the middle. If they see you on offence they’re automatically gonna assume there’s a specific reason, especially with Hades with you too.”

“Yes, but there’s a chance we won’t be able to find the flag,” Hades argued lightly. “We have to make sure other members of our team will be able to find us if they find it, we can’t go too far out.”

“Yeah, but we have to make sure the other team doesn’t find us either,” John argued back, tone a little snooty. “We can’t exactly la-di-da in plain sight and think the other team won’t be suspicious.”

“Yes, but the rest of the team was given specific instruction to not attempt to get the flag. If they can’t find us, then they’ll just be waiting around, essentially giving the other team free time to go get our flag.”

Tension rose. “Maybe we should go in the direction of the edge of the woods, just not all the way over,” Poseidon said hastily, not wanting any conflict. In hopes of pursuing his wish, he started heading to the left. “Then we can work from there. Do you have any ideas of where they could be hiding it?”

John and Hades followed his lead. “Alright,” John said, voice turning back to normal, “and no, not really. They tend to hide it in a different place every time, but they do have a few main spots.”

“What are those?” Poseidon asked, hoping he didn’t sound as winded as he felt. He was relieved the conflict seemed to be gone now, dissolved as soon as he offered the conclusion. They had slowed down now, but were still going at a light jog.

“Well, Zeus’ fist, the tallest oak tree, in the river bed, though that was only a couple times, by the yellow spot, tangled in the leaves where some trees are really condensed, etc.” He pronounced et cetera as the actual abbreviation E.T.C. “Just the normal places. They’re predictable but that doesn’t make them any less hard to get.”

“I’ve overheard them talking about something to do with yellow,” Hades pondered. Poseidon was glad to find him sounding a little out of breath too.

“Yeah, but that could be planned,” John countered. “There’s a chance it isn’t, but a lot of times if they know the other team will be going after a certain cabin, or in some cases person—” he glanced down at Poseidon, “—so they’ll try to drop subtle hints around them. It’s still a possibility, but you and Zeus are the most sought-after right now so they probably knew Annabeth might pick you, especially considering they knew they were gonna get Zeus.”

“So how do we know they weren’t just setting up Annabeth?” Poseidon asked, catching sight of a camper waving. He smiled and waved back. She was the little girl that came up to him to tell him she believed he was Poseidon that one time. She was cute. Poseidon liked her. 

“Oh,” John laughed, “Annabeth likes to say ‘overheard’ to make herself feel better.” Poseidon’s brow furrowed, and John continued with an explanation. “She sends Athena kids out in the dead of night to ‘overhear’ shit. She even got a new Demeter camper to pretend they were a Hermes kid once so she could listen. Hermes and Ares are almost always together, by the way. Same with Apollo and Athena, it’s almost tradition.”

Poseidon raised his eyebrows. “Did she get into trouble for it?”

John shook his head, laughing a little. He didn’t seem out of breath at all. “Hell nah, have you ever seen Annabeth lie? You would swear on the river Styx she was telling the truth. She told Chiron the girl was genuinely lost and some campers had tricked her into thinking everyone had to stay in the Hermes cabin for at least a night. Man, that girl can think on her feet. Obviously, Chiron could see through it, but he had no way of proving her wrong and therefore couldn’t punish her even if he wanted to. And besides, if he had, she could have argued that the only thing off limits in capture the flag is killing and maiming. Have you ever seen Annabeth and Chiron debate? You get lost a few seconds in, but it’s fun regardless.” He let out a laugh that was half amused and half fond.

Poseidon looked ahead, eyes wide. He knew campers liked capture the flag, but he didn’t know they took it  _ that  _ seriously. Gods, it sounded almost paranoia-inducing. Who knew when someone was listening in to your plans? Or what if you were just having a normal conversation and someone was listening to you? A personal one at that? Poseidon assumed people were understanding enough to leave when that happened, but still. Creepy.

“Oh, I know,” John said, shaking his head again. “We take it pretty seriously.”

Poseidon let out a small laugh that was more of a ‘you can say that again’. “Yeah.”

“Oi, guys!” someone called. Poseidon looked over his shoulder. It looked like an Athena kid, tall and sturdy. “Keep it down, would ya? They’re gonna hear you from a mile away, for gods’ sake.”

Poseidon’s cheeks heated. “Sorry, yeah.”

The boy shook his head as he looked away, looking to mumble something under his breath. Poseidon looked ahead and saw other guards staring judgmentally and his cheeks heated more. In his defence, it was John that was talking more, alright?  
They remained silent for a good portion of the rest of the jog, until there were fewer and fewer guards. When a guard looked surprised to see them, he knew it was time to start heading towards the centre line. He felt a twinge of sympathy for the girl, she must’ve known they all knew she didn’t really have a purpose. Poseidon would’ve died inside if someone found him. It probably didn’t help that Hades was with them, either. Embarrassing things were even more embarrassing in front of important people.

“We should turn here,” Poseidon suggested, already doing so anyway. “Then we can start to look for the flag.”

Hades and John nodded. They fell into silence once more, running and running and running. Gods, how big were these woods? Had they already passed the stream? Chiron said it went from either end, but…

Nope, he was right. The woods were just really big. The sound of running water started crescendoing, until the trees cleared a little and Poseidon could see clear, fresh water running down a stream. Gods, this was more of a cardio workout than a game. He was glad they chose the tactic of going far out, he was too tired to fight right now even if he wanted to.

“Do we wanna walk from here?” Poseidon asked, poorly concealing his gasps for air. “They might hear us coming if we’re running.”

“Yeah, good idea,” John nodded. He yet again did not seem out of breath. “Let’s keep low too, ducking behind trees if we hear any noise and such. We can’t really do the ‘pretending to be guards’ thing now, we’re about to be on enemy territory.” He stepped over the stream. “And now we are,” he finished, with a small nod. It was dramatic, but it was relevant at least.

“Alright,” Poseidon said, nodding, “good plan.”

Hades nodded as well and stepped over the stream. Poseidon looked down at it for a second, wondering if he was going to be able to make it. Hades had to take a pretty big step to get over easily...Though Poseidon’s legs were the longest part of him, even if he was short in general... _ Oh, I’m not  _ that _ short, I can probably make it. You’re 5’8-9, some people would kill for your height dude. _

He could not, in fact, make it.

“Woah!” he yelped, almost falling back after trying to push himself all the way over from where he had planted one foot on the other side of the river. He could feel himself falling backwards, but before he could Hades grabbed his arm and John grabbed his other. They both hauled him up, and he got to the other side of the stream safely. Gods, that was a fucking river. A metre and a half wide. Practically olympic level lengths.

“You good?”

“Are you alright?”

Poseidon stood straight and shook their hands off. “Yeah, sorry,” he said, brushing himself off and trying to ignore the light tingle in his cheeks. “Thanks. It was just wider than I expected.”  
“It’s alright,” John said, punching him lightly in the shoulder. “You just saw us do it, so you probably thought it wasn’t that big. I’m 6’8 dude, don’t worry.” He laughed.

Poseidon looked ahead. _6’8? Six fucking eight??? Bitch?????_ _This is just plain...disrespectful._

Hades looked surprised as well, though he was better at concealing it than Poseidon probably was. Hades was 6’2 ish now, he was 6’4-6’5 when he was a god. Poseidon thought  _ that  _ was unfair. Jesus. Jonathan Craylar. What a guy.

“Oh,” Poseidon said, instead of all of the thoughts that just went through his head, “yeah, I know. Just thought I might’ve been tall enough.”

“Nah, a lot of people take a running leap to get over it.” John put a comforting hand on his shoulder. “Even people a little taller than you.”

Hades clenched his jaw, and when Poseidon looked at him he was tearing his gaze away from the hand on his shoulder. “Should we start heading towards Zeus’ fist? Or that yellow place?”

“I’d say Zeus’ fist first,” John said, letting his hand slip off Poseidon’s shoulder, “I feel like they would feel pressured to hide it there with Zeus on their team and all.”

Poseidon nodded, and looked up at Hades. His jaw was still clenched, but he had that look in his eyes that was like he was having an internal debate. Poseidon frowned, reaching forward to grab his arm. Hades looked down and back at him, eyebrows raised. Poseidon frowned deeper to show he was wondering if he was alright, and the tension left Hades’ face, a smile replacing it. Poseidon felt a little ease at that. “Where’s Zeus’ fist?” he asked, turning back to John.

John was giving them a weird look, not in the sense that he thought they were weird, but in the sense that Poseidon didn’t know what the look was or why he was giving it. It was like he was trying to read the two of them, with just a little bit of judgement. Poseidon felt a little defence curl into his gut. Hades was his brother, he was allowed to be affectionate. Poseidon’s gut curled weirdly. Something seemed off about that sentence. The general point still stood, however. 

When John noticed him looking, the expression slipped off his face and he replaced it with a fake-confused one, looking at him like he was crazy for staring. It worked. Poseidon looked away quickly, pretending he hadn’t looked in the first place. John shook his head as if to clear it. “It’s near the middle of the woods, at the far back. Maybe a little closer to us. But there are a shit ton of guards there regardless of if the flag is actually there or not, we have to be careful.”

Hades moved close to Poseidon’s side, so their arms were almost touching. “Alright. When do you think there will start to be guards?”

“Fairly soon, but there shouldn’t be too many until we get really close to the main spots. But still—they can always inform the other guards through Iris Message and stuff. We still have to be careful.”

Poseidon nodded and so did Hades. They walked slowly away from the river, not moving at a diagonal yet. As they moved, Hades hand brushed against his. He moved away instinctively, a little embarrassed. Hades’s ears tinted red, but nothing on his face showed he noticed it happened. Poseidon wondered if he looked the same. It was one of those things where you knew the other person knew it happened and was probably thinking about it, but neither of you acknowledge it. It wasn’t really weird anyway. Right?

They walked at a quick pace, but John slowed them down after a few minutes. It was eerily silent, the heat of battle either yet to start or too far away to hear. There was nothing but the sound of leaves brushing in the wind and twigs snapping under their feet. Abruptly, John put an arm over Poseidon’s chest. “Okay, there’s our first guards.” He whispered it, and moved behind a group of bushes. “They don’t seem to be paying attention, but any sort of noise will put them on alert. We have to be careful.”

Poseidon nodded, going on his toes to see over the brush. “How are we going to get by?” They were standing around a tall tree with a thick trunk, about 200 yards from the three of them. Two of them were talking while the third was relaxing against the tree trunk with his eyes closed. Poseidon had a feeling he knew why they were put further out than most.

“Let’s just sneak around that way,” John whispered, pointing to their right. “See that kinda line with thicker trees?”

Poseidon looked over. There was a spot where the trees seemed to be a little denser, with thicker trunks and less space between them. If there was space, there was brush to conceal it. Poseidon nodded. 

“Okay,” John whispered back. “I’ll go first. If I can be concealed by something, you two can.”

Hades looked mildly annoyed for a second, and Poseidon felt a little satisfaction. Not because Hades was annoyed, but because he was finally being called short too. Well, indirectly, but still. It made Poseidon feel a little smug. “Alright,” he responded.

John nodded. He slipped away from the group of bushes they were hiding behind and glanced over at the guards for a moment before dashing over to a thick tree trunk. The guards didn’t notice, and Poseidon let out a little breath. John gestured at him and Hades to wait, then glanced at the guards again. He ran over to another group of bushes, then turned and gestured to them again, except this time beckoning them over.

Poseidon glanced at Hades, realized he wasn’t where he thought he was, and turned his head to look slightly behind him where he actually was. “Should I go?”

Hades nodded. “Yeah, I’ll watch your back. Be careful.”

Poseidon smiled. “Yeah, I’m just going over there.”

Hades hugged him around his waist briefly. His cheeks warmed. “I know, sorry. Just want you to be safe.”

Poseidon smiled, chest warming too. “It’s alright, I know too.”

Hades gave one little squeeze, and Poseidon squirmed away, breathing through his nose as a laugh. Hades gave a small grin and then shoved him lightly, and he jogged over to the trunk. His whole was body concealed without having to even turn sideways. He looked at John for further instruction, and he found him giving Poseidon a strange look, this time a mix of looking at him like he was weird and also wondering something. The look didn’t fall off this time, but he did gesture for him to come over as normal. Poseidon nodded a little dreadfully, making sure the guards were still distracted, before speed-walking to the bushes. John moved over as he arrived to give more space, and Poseidon was still wondering about that look. Had he done something weird? Did John think he was weird? What did that look mean? What was it about?

He heard Hades move to the tree trunk as well, though he knew if he had been any farther away he wouldn’t have been able to. He scooched farther away from the end of the bush, leaving more room. Hades nodded, and then came over as well, crouching down next to them. 

After that, they repeated the process a few times, moving one by one to places where they would be concealed. Part of Poseidon thought this was fun as shit. There was adrenaline in his body knowing that if they were to get caught they could potentially mess up the game (and he knew campers would not take that lightly), but that almost excited him. Nothing exciting had happened in a while. Big events had, yeah, but they were...far from exciting, to say the least. The other part was dread, knowing that soon he was going to have to face Zeus, and there was a chance that he  _ would  _ fight him. He really did not need his ass kicked by his little brother. Both not for his pride or his body. He had a feeling Zeus was probably still working out. Ew.

They got around those guards pretty easily. They remained in the same order: John first, then Poseidon, then Hades. Once they were in the clear, it was a little while before they encountered some more guards, and they repeated the process. There wasn’t a whole lot of space between the last ones and these ones, so Poseidon had a feeling they were going to have to get a little strategic with where they were going. Well, maybe not where they were going, but how they were going. They had to start walking secretively even without any (visible) guards in sight. Poseidon was once again surprised at how big the woods truly were, with them having so much free space between guards while there still being a good amount of them.

They were just starting to get into the more populated areas when someone tapped on Poseidon’s shoulder. He almost shit himself, spinning around with his heart lodging into his throat and grip tightening on his sword. “Holy shi—!”

“Hey, relax. It’s just me,” Nico di Angelo said, a bored-like amusement in his eyes. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

Poseidon put a hand over his chest, breathing out a shit load of panic. “Holy fuck, I thought you were gonna kill me.”  
Nico gave a short laugh. “Sorry. Annabeth just sent me out to be seen by guards so they think I’m on offence. I shadow travelled near you by accident and thought I’d say hi.”

“Hello, Nico,” Hades said, with amusement in his voice. “I think you gave Poseidon a heart attack.”

Nico gave a minuscule smile. “I think I did. I gotta run, good luck.” He didn’t acknowledge John, and John didn’t acknowledge him. Poseidon wondered if it was coincidental or if there was tension between them. Nonetheless, Nico ran off further into the woods, boots leaving a sound but not so loud that it sounded like it was on purpose. Poseidon thought he must’ve done it before. 

“How much longer until we reach Zeus’ fist?” Hades asked, starting to walk again.

“It shouldn’t be much longer,” John replied, following after him. Poseidon followed suit. “Make sure to keep extra low and quiet now though, we’re getting back into the main part of the woods.”

Poseidon and Hades nodded. They navigated as they had been, but this time a little more cautious of how loud their feet were. Poseidon kept glancing over his shoulder, fearing he might’ve not seen a group of guards and they were watching them sneak around. John was still leading, a couple of feet away from Poseidon, while Hades was the opposite, tailing close behind him. He was so close, in fact, that when John let out a small gasp and stopped abruptly, so did Poseidon, causing Hades to ram right into his back.

“What?” Poseidon whispered, heart pounding.

“Guards. Closer than I thought.” He whispered it so quietly Poseidon could barely pick it up. “We’re going to have to go back and further away. They’re like...right the—” He stopped talking abruptly and ducked behind a bush.

Poseidon couldn’t see the guards but took the hint, jumping to hide more securely behind the tree he’d been standing by. Hades was forced to follow him and had to squish close to make sure they couldn’t see him either. The trunk was thick, but not thick enough for two people, so they had to attempt to take up the equivalent amount of space as one. Hades wrapped his arms around Poseidon, squishing his whole body against him. The back of Poseidon’s head tucked right under Hades’s chin, and he could feel Hades holding his breath. His cheeks heated up once again, knowing John could see them.  _ Yeah, that’s why you're embarrassed. I was confused for a second, you’re not usually embarrassed by Hades hugging you.  _ Poseidon ignored the fact he made his inner voice think that and it didn’t think it on its own.

His heart pounded in his ears and he was very aware of the placement of Hades’ hands, arms under his armpits and palms resting on the area near Poseidon’s belly button. It was deadly silent all of the sudden, John’s body frozen in place by the bushes while they waited.

Poseidon didn’t know how long they waited, but it was a while before John even moved his head. Hades’s hands were still placed firmly on Poseidon’s stomach, both hands crossing so it was like Poseidon was hugging himself with Hades’ arms. John turned to look at them and that same look appeared for a moment, before he wiped it off and made a small gesture with his hand.  _ Back up.  _ “Slowly,” he mouthed.

Poseidon nodded and Hades removed his chin from the top of his head, untangling his arms. He turned around slowly and Poseidon sensed him duck, probably turning to crawl along where there was brush. The amount of bushes around were getting space, but they thankfully landed by a group of thicker ones. Poseidon turned around slowly after a moment and found he was correct, with Hades crouched behind the bushes where he assumed he would’ve been. (Or maybe he was crouched behind shrubs. Poseidon didn’t know the difference). Poseidon crouched too, following his lead.

Slowly, they made their way back to a safe spot with no pressing difficulties. When Poseidon deemed them far enough away to be safe, he let out a breath. John crawled next to him, leaning against a tree stump. Hades was not too far off. 

“I think they saw me just as I was ducking, I’m too goddamn tall,” John said, breathier than normal.

“They didn’t come looking though,” Poseidon responded, also a little breathy, “that’s good.”

“Yeah,” John agreed. 

They stayed like that for only another moment before Hades stood. He offered his hand to Poseidon, who took it and hauled himself up. John stood next, brushing off his jeans. “Okay, same direction, just make a curve so we can avoid them,” he said. “We’re lucky we were in one of the more dense areas around them, the trees were pretty sparse for the most part.”

Poseidon nodded. They repeated the process yet again, this time making sure they were far enough away from the guards. They were still in sight as they approached that area again, but they were far enough away that Poseidon assumed they wouldn’t notice them. He let out a breath as they passed them successfully, and John started to guide them back to where they would have originally been, further into the woods. 

They encountered another group of guards, but the real trouble started after they got past them.

Like, really big trouble.

A small gasp caught Poseidon’s attention, and he whipped around along with Hades and John. There was a small girl there, with honey blonde hair in pigtails and a chubby hand covering her mouth. Her eyes were as wide as dinner plates. Poseidon stared at her and the four red marks on her cheeks, body freezing up. They both stood staring at each other for a moment, before she ran off, knobbly legs running as fast as they would carry her. “Poseidon and Hades are over here!” she screamed at the top of her lungs. “They’re not guarding! Poseidon’s not guarding! Guys, Hades and Poseidon are over here!” Her voice was high pitched and squeaky, loud as sirens.

_ Shit. Shit, shit, shit.  _ Poseidon looked at John for instruction.

John looked back at him. “Shit.”

The three of them started sprinting, an endless stream of cuss words looping around in Poseidon’s head. Fuck, there were not only gonna be a shit ton of guards on their tail now, but someone’s gonna inform Zeus, or inform someone that’s gonna inform Zeus, or inform Clarisse who’s gonna inform them to inform Zeus to not guard. And then Poseidon was  _ really _ fucked.

“Shit, we have to find Zeus quickly now, right?” Poseidon yelled at John, who was much faster than him and about seven metres ahead of him.

“Yeah! Watch out for guards, we need to get out of this area! They’ll be running towards her voice!”

Poseidon nodded and tried to run faster. Hades was keeping pace with him, right by his side. He heard the little girl still screaming in the distance, and he would never hit a child but he would very much like to yell at her. But he didn’t, instead running as fast as he could to wherever John was going. He had absolutely zero clue how to get to Zeus’ statue from here, in fact he had zero clue how to get there in general, but John apparently knew and Poseidon didn’t doubt his navigational skills. 

A few moments in, two guards from the Ares team emerged from nowhere, shouting. Poseidon couldn’t tell what they were saying, but they had their swords out and were running towards him so he assumed it was not good. John apparently heard too and stopped, sprinting back towards Poseidon with his sword out. For a moment Poseidon was scared he was about to be like Olaf when he got stabbed by an icicle, but John instead stepped in front of him. The two Ares campers (well—kids on the Ares team, Poseidon didn’t know if they were children of his), did not seem to care, charging towards them. Poseidon gripped his sword tightly, prepared to fight even if Hades and John were supposed to do that for him. 

The kids got about five metres away before Hades stepped forward, not raising his sword but making himself as tall as possible. When he spoke, it was with deadly calmness. “I would not suggest coming any closer, the dead do not like those who injure their master.”

Poseidon was pretty sure one of them actually shit herself, while the other dropped his sword. Poseidon tried not to laugh, as that would probably ruin the effect. He struggled a little bit and bit his lip in an attempt to not let any sound out, but John actually looked a little scared too. Poseidon didn’t blame him. Hades using his Hades-voice was scary to anyone hearing it the first time. To some, it remained equally as scary no matter how many times they heard it. The dude picked up his sword, apologized, and ran off, but Poseidon admired the girl for standing her ground, even though Poseidon was like 90% sure she had some shit in her underwear. She tried to make herself look tall and brandished her sword. “You’re not getting our flag.” Her voice shook.

Poseidon could tell Hades was staring her down, and he was mildly surprised she didn’t shit herself again. “Is that so?”

She nodded, chin wavering a little.

Hades lifted his sword. She let out a little squeak and ran off, and Poseidon was mildly disappointed. A little part of him was rooting for her. Most kids would take one look at Hades and run away.

“Alright, let’s go,” John yelled, sprinting in the same direction again. 

Poseidon followed after him and Hades did not fall behind. The wind brushed his hair back and made his eyes water, but he continued to sprint, praying he got there in time before someone informed Zeus. It was one thing to face Zeus as the main runner, it was another to face someone he didn’t know. 

His throat grew dry as he sprinted, calves burning and cheeks stinging. He heard footsteps behind him but did not turn around, only sprinting faster.  _ Oh, c’mon...how far can it be… _

It turns out, it wasn’t that far. The only problem: Zeus was not there. The statue came into sight, with three guards standing in front of it, two female and one African American. So: not Zeus. They turned towards them at the sound, and Poseidon cursed.

John took a sharp left and started sprinting. “Okay, let’s try the yellow place, hurry!”

Poseidon didn’t hesitate, given the fact that the three guards turned their full attention to him and withdrew their swords. He heard shouts behind him, and the loop of curses in his head grew louder. Why were so many people after them? Shouldn’t there be more runners to pay attention to?

He didn’t bother to answer his own question, instead sprinting at top speed after John. His throat was growing unbearably dry, but he kept going, jumping over fallen logs and praying he didn’t break his ankle or something. Any hope of being subtle was gone, the leaves under their feet seeming to echo like bullets. 

He heard a couple cheers and glanced over, lungs feeling like they were shriveled up prunes. There were two kids with blue stripes on their cheeks, giving them thumbs up as they attempted to fight off guards from the Ares team. Poseidon gave a small wave, but nearly tripped over a rock and decided that that was probably not the best idea. Hades cursed and told him to be careful, almost running into him. Poseidon apologized and went right back to sprinting, hoping to the stars above that the new place they were heading to was close.

It turns out he would never find out how close he was to it, because a girl came up and stopped them, looking like she had just run a marathon. “Stop! Stop! Wait!”

John had to slow down before he could fully stop, but it still wasn’t enough warning and Poseidon rammed right into his back with an ‘oof’. He let out a bigger oof when Hades became the other slice of bread to a Poseidon sandwich, slamming into Poseidon’s back as well. John stumbled at the weight running into him but thankfully steadied himself right before he could fall on the girl in front of them. All three of them gasped for breath and the girl looked like she would have laughed if there wasn’t something urgent. 

“Sorry,” she said breathlessly, eyes wide and cheeks flushed, “but I know where the flag is. It’s in the bush place, where all the trees are really, like, close together. Zeus is guarding, but there’s a few others nearby.”

“Wait, shit, okay,” John said, already starting to sprint again. “Thank you!”

The girl nodded, then put her hands on her knees and heaved for breath. Poseidon very much wanted to join her, but nonetheless let out a pained sigh and started sprinting again. His legs burned in protest but he continued anyway, a stitch forming in his side. “Where is that place?” he asked, words barely legible through all his breathlessness.

“A little further up,” John replied, finally starting to pant, “not too far. We need to get there before someone takes Zeus out though.”

Poseidon nodded and tried to ignore his stitch, legs growing weaker and weaker. He really needed to start running more. All of the woods looked the same as they sprinted, but John seemed to know where he was going. The other offence from the Athena team seemed to be doing a good job, because they didn’t encounter a whole lot of guards trying to get in their way for a little bit. 

John finally slowed down, leaning on a tree and panting heavily. Poseidon almost collapsed in relief, coming up next to him to lean on the same tree. Hades followed next, but there was no leftover room on the tree so he just placed his hand by Poseidon’s ear and leaned, placing the other hand on his hip and breathing heavily. It hurt as Poseidon inhaled, the stitch in his side almost unbearable. He looked up while he gasped and found Hades looming over him, breathing heavily with flushed and sweaty cheeks, a tired look in his eyes. He looked away.

“It’s...It’s right around here,” John gasped out between breaths. “Just th...through those trees.” He pointed to a group of trees and then placed his hands on his knees and panted some more. 

Poseidon nodded but did not speak, too busy trying to catch his breath. His heart was pounding like crazy and his chest hurt, sweat rolling down his back like a waterfall. He felt Hades’ breath on him, the smell of ham sandwich and Coca Cola. 

“Alright,” Hades finally breathed, pushing up. It was probably good, there was no doubt going to be a few guards that the Athena team couldn't fight off. “Let’s go.”

Poseidon closed his eyes in pain for a moment but nodded, pushing off the tree. John did too, with a pitiful groan Poseidon pretended not to notice. Once off the tree, John took the lead again, though when he tried to sprint he stopped and took a small breather again. Poseidon would’ve laughed, if not for the fact that he was in an even worse condition. He took another moment before he tried again and succeeded this time, though Poseidon almost wished he hadn’t. He let out an internal groan and then followed, everything protesting this time. This was probably not the best strategy: if Zeus decided he did want to fight, not only did Poseidon have like half his strength, but he was dead tired too.

But nonetheless, he pushed forward. Thankfully, he didn’t have to push forward for too much longer, because soon John slowed down, moving with lighter footsteps. Poseidon got the hint, but knew they were really close when John turned around and put a finger over his lips. Poseidon nodded and tried to quiet his breathing. It didn’t really work, but the effort was still there. They crept along slowly then, trying to minimize the amount of noise their feet made while walking. Poseidon finally had somewhat of an advantage, being lighter on his feet than the other two. He eventually gave up trying to quiet his breathing and relented to holding his breath for a while, then sucking in air, then repeating. He made a shit ton of noise when he breathed in, but it was better than making a shit ton of noise constantly.

John came to a sudden halt and Poseidon followed suit. Hades didn’t ram into him, but he was close enough to where Poseidon could hear his breath catching a little bit in his throat at the abrupt stop. John crouched behind a tree trunk and Poseidon followed, moving slightly behind a nearby shrub. Hades went for the bush just a few steps back. They were all now very mindful of their breathing, any noise they made coming along with a fear of being noticed. Poseidon could not see what John saw, but did not doubt his reasonings behind ducking. His heart pounded in his ears, waiting for instruction. Did he see Zeus? Did Zeus see them? What was going on?

The answer came after a few more painful moments of waiting, when John finally turned around and addressed them. “He’s right there,” he mouthed, pointing at a diagonal up ahead of them. “He’s the only—” he mouthed some more words Poseidon couldn’t make out, “—guards nearby.”

Thankfully, that was all Poseidon (hoped he) needed, and he nodded. “What are we going to do?”

“Hades and I will take the other guards, and hopefully some other people might help us. There’s only three, but there’s two of us that will be fighting them.” He said it in a low whisper this time. “Poseidon, I’m gonna hope that Zeus also doesn’t let the other guards hurt you. And don’t hesitate on him because he’s your brother, it wouldn’t be as, uh…” he glanced to the side awkwardly, “unfair if you tried to hurt him.”

Poseidon furrowed his brow. He had only thought of the chance of Zeus beating him to pulp, he hadn’t thought that he might have to fight back. He frowned. “I don’t want to hurt him.”

John got a strange look in his eyes. “I know, but you might have to. There’s a good chance he won’t fight back hard, but he still might show some resistance. Remember: you fighting your hardest would be him fighting holding back. So still be prepared.”

Poseidon pretended that didn’t hurt him a little and nodded. Hades looked like he was about to say something, brow furrowed and a dark look in his eyes, but Poseidon held up a hand. He was glad he looked for Hades’ reaction, because if he hadn’t Hades probably would’ve started a petty fight right before an important one. Hades closed his mouth reluctantly, giving a light glare to John.

John gave a defensive shrug. “That’s not anything against Poseidon, that’s just a physical thing—”

“Is someone there?”

Poseidon froze. It was Zeus’ voice, echoing throughout the otherwise silent woods. He made eye contact with John, who looked equally as scared as him.

They heard Zeus take another step forward. “Hello?”

“What did you hear?” someone asked, presumably one of the other guards.

John shot off the ground, brandishing his sword. “Me.”

He charged, and Poseidon scrambled off the ground. “Oh, okay, we’re doing it.” He picked up his sword and stepped into view, Hades running past him and out into the little opening. 

Poseidon followed, throat drying and heart pumping at a concerning speed, sword already sweaty in his hand. The wood here was cleared of most trees and shrubs, with yellow-ish grass and a few dandelions growing in random places. But behind it was a tangle of thick branches and tree trunks, with intertwined vines and leaves as thick as snakes. It all came together to form a wall-like-thing, with growth so dense you could barely see through it. 

One thing you could see, however, was a small bit of red a little ways in. It just barely poked through the twisting of leaves, but it was there nonetheless. Poseidon kept the information in the back of his mind, but had to face the issue at hand first.

“Poseidon?” Zeus asked, confusion lacing his voice.

Poseidon stopped running and gave a dorky wave, then immediately wanted to die afterwards. “Uh, yeah.” There was a pause. “Surprise!” he said, giving small jazz hands.

Zeus only looked more confused. Hades and John were battling it out with the other guards, but Poseidon didn’t look over in fear that Zeus would take that as an opportunity to attack. They both stood there for a second, staring. Poseidon fought the urge to rock back and forth, fiddling his fingers around his sword handle a little bit. 

“Would ya hurry up?” Hades shouted at him. 

Poseidon glanced over briefly. He had two guards on him, both fairly built. They were a little timid, but not as bad as Poseidon would’ve hoped. “Oh, right, sorry.” He took one more look at Zeus. So how was he going to do this again?

It turns out his brain didn’t actually care about planning too much, because he started sprinting. He raised his sword a little bit just in case, but prayed to every being in the universe that he wasn’t going to have to use it. He ran on a steep diagonal just so he wasn’t running directly into Zeus, keeping his eyes on the flag. He was about halfway there before things fully computed in Zeus’ brain and he ran after Poseidon. “Hey, hey, hey!”

Poseidon sprinted faster, trying to get out of his reach. Unfortunately for him, the opening was not that large and Zeus’ legs were longer. Zeus caught up to him pretty quick and threw his hand in front of his chest harshly, knocking Poseidon back a little.  _ Oh, fuck. Ah shit. Oh fuck. Fuck. Fuck. He’s gonna fight me. Annabeth was wrong. Why did she choose to be wrong today? _

Poseidon pushed Zeus away with as much force as possible and tried to duck under his arm, but it did not work. Zeus just grabbed him from around the stomach and prevented him from running. Poseidon cursed and thrashed, at least succeeding in breaking out of Zeus’ arms. He whipped around and lifted his sword, and Zeus cursed and brought up his as well. 

They both looked quite stupid for a second, Poseidon waiting for Zeus to strike first and Zeus quite obviously not wanting to strike. Poseidon kept waiting anyway, pre-cringing even if it hadn’t happened yet. His face was kind of screwed up and his sword was held halfway up, waiting to block. Zeus’ was raised half-way like he was going to strike but got turned into marble halfway through. 

After a moment, he lowered his sword and Poseidon’s mouth drew together, looking up at him. He looked kind of helpless, eyes darting to the guards and sword weak in his hands. He looked at Poseidon and they caught eyes for a brief moment, blue to green. It was weird, like it always was when making eye contact in battle.

Except Poseidon was a little bitch and didn’t spend too much time being poetic about it, sprinting towards the flag again. 

“Ah, shit,” Zeus cursed, running after him.

He only made it a metre or two before Zeus grabbed his arm and yanked back, pulling him into his chest and then gently sweeping his legs out underneath him. Poseidon let out a little ‘oof’, but it didn’t really hurt. Zeus laid him gently on the ground and put one hand on his shoulder, leaning down hard, then put one knee on Poseidon’s hip, effectively pinning him down. Poseidon’s sword fell out of his grip, landing a few inches away from his hand. 

Fortunately for Poseidon, Zeus was a bit too gentle and he was able to get free when he struggled, scrambling for his sword and then trying to get off the ground. Unfortunately again, Zeus shut that down pretty quickly and pinned him again, this time with more force. He put his knee in the middle of Poseidon’s stomach, and then pinned both of his wrists to the ground above his head. Poseidon struggled and tried to knee him, but he just moved his legs so the only thing Poseidon would be hitting was his shins. 

Poseidon still struggled, the endless loop of swear words in his head only growing louder. How the fuck was he supposed to get out of this? His sword was once again a few inches away from his hands, which were now pinned over his head with the entire weight of Zeus’ upper body on them.

He heard Hades let out a pained grunt, and that got him going again, trying harder to break free. Zeus cussed and applied more pressure, slamming his wrists into the ground and kneeing his stomach so hard Poseidon thought bruises might have already started to form. He let out a small whimper, stopping his attempts and screwing his face up in pain. “Ow, ow, ow,” he whispered under his breath, wrists burning and it getting harder and harder to breath.

Zeus’ grip relented almost immediately. It was so quick that Poseidon actually blinked up at him in confusion, wrists suddenly pinned to the ground with as much force as a feather. Zeus’ knee was now just resting on his stomach, and they made eye contact again. Poseidon blinked again, waiting for an explanation. The only thing he got was Zeus’ eyes looking like they had just committed the most heinous crime in all of humanity. He looked strange from this angle, dark hair falling around his face and lips falling out just a little bit so they looked more plump than usual. The sun was on top of him, so most of his face was dark while just the ends of his hair were highlighted. Poseidon could feel his breath, and he continued to stare, continued to search for some kind of explanation. 

He ended up deciding that he didn’t care too much, and kneed Zeus, effectively knocking him off. He grabbed his sword, pushing himself off the ground while Zeus cursed. He scrambled to his feet, starting to sprint right away. The flag was so close, just a few yards away…

Zeus started to run after him, but he tried his hardest this time, sprinting as fast he physically could. He reached the wall with Zeus hot on his heels and let instinct completely guide him, feet running up a trunk and hands gripping branches without him even knowing what was going on. Zeus grabbed hold of his hips and tried to pull him down, but he struggled just long enough to grab hold of the flag.

Zeus dragged him down successfully after that and they both collapsed, with Zeus under Poseidon’s weight and Poseidon with nothing else to hold on to. Zeus flipped them around almost as soon as they hit the ground so that Poseidon was trapped underneath him stomach-down. Poseidon protected the flag with all he had, not letting Zeus’ hands reach under his stomach. He ended up lying completely on the flag with Zeus over top of him, trying in vain to not let Zeus get far enough under him to grab the pole.   
“Hey!” Poseidon called, not really processing the fact he actually got it but still knowing that he at least had it in his hands. His voice came out strained under Zeus’ weight. “Hey, I got the flag! I got the flag! Hey!”

Zeus cursed and tried harder to reach it, but they heard fast-paced footsteps and Poseidon knew it was in vain. Sure enough, he got pulled off Poseidon in one swift motion, and Poseidon shot off the ground as fast as he possibly could, starting to sprint right away.  _ Holy shit, I have the flag. Holy shit, I have the flag...Holy shit, I have the flag! _

There was a guard in front of him and he knew two were chasing after him, but he didn’t care, running faster than he ever had in his life, screaming at the top of his lungs. “Hey, I got the flag! Someone help me, I got the flag!”

The guard in front of him tried to intervene, but he simply just started running in another direction. “Hey, I got the flag! I got the fla—”

“Hey, fish bitch!” someone yelled, waving their hands frantically. “Over here!”

Poseidon didn’t have time to pay attention to the nickname and started sprinting over to the guy, who also started running towards him. Poseidon briefly made sure that the stripes on his cheeks were blue, before throwing it at him with as much accuracy as physically possible. The boy caught it and didn’t even bother to say thank you before sprinting towards the Athena side, resembling Sonic the Hedgehog with how fast he moved. Poseidon wasn’t aware of a god or goddess specifically for speed, but if there was one this guy was definitely a son of theirs. He was out of sight in moments, feet barely touching the ground as he sprinted. Cries of outrage erupted from guards that Poseidon couldn’t see, and he heaved for breath, grinning as he watched the boy dodge everyone’s attempts of intercepting. 

When Poseidon heard a deafening eruption of cheers from the other side of the woods, he let out a throat-tearing one too, grinning like a madman. His face was about to split in two from grinning already, pumping his fist in the air and jumping around, throat already growing raw from just a few cheers. He turned and ran back towards Hades and John, who both looked equally as excited, running towards him too. Poseidon jumped a few more times while greeting them, letting out an endless stream of “holy shit”’s, before flinging himself at Hades and wrapping his arms around his neck. Hades let out a big laugh and hugged him around his waist, lifting him up and spinning him around.

“I did it!” Poseidon shouted, more shocked than anything. “I did it!”  
“You did it,” Hades laughed, hugging him even tighter. For once, Poseidon didn't care about being lifted up, his disbelief and joy preoccupying his mind too much for anything else. 

Hades only let him down when someone cleared their throat, and then Poseidon flung himself at them as well. It was Zeus, who let out a laugh too and hugged Poseidon so tight the air was almost knocked out of him. Poseidon repeated his phrases of “holy shit” and “I did it” just as much as he did with Hades, and Zeus didn’t seem to mind, grinning like a madman as well.

“You did,” he said, laughter still colouring his voice.

Poseidon let himself down and then jumped around again, and Zeus and Hades laughed at him. Poseidon didn’t mind, grinning like crazy. “Dude, I did it! I actually did it!”

Hades was still laughing as he came up and tried to stop him from jumping. “You did, you did. Let’s go celebrate, yeah?”

Poseidon nodded, jumping ahead and starting to run again, suddenly his tiredness forgotten. “Okay!” 

Only more laughter followed, and Zeus and Hades started to run too. When he crossed the border between the two teams and got to the place where everyone was celebrating, their cheers grew louder, and about fifteen hands patted him on the back or ruffled his hair aggressively. He grinned like crazy, and Annabeth forced her way through the crowd to see him, drawing him into a crushing hug that probably cracked a few of his ribs. “I knew you could do it,” she said aggressively, grip bruising on his back. She smelled like lemons. People cheered louder, and Poseidon laughed and thanked her, the thought of her being a daughter of Athena not even crossing his mind. She let go, and he fell back to stand with Zeus, Hades, and John (who had been there the whole time, just not as...physically supportive).

He grinned and cheered the whole way out of the woods, fist bumping and hugging people he had never met before in his life. Everyone looked absolutely ecstatic, a few people jumping up and down and most pumping their fists in the air. They let out screams of victory and a few “let’s go!”’s. Poseidon laughed and cheered with them, grin never leaving his face. Finally, he felt like he was just another camper, being cheered and encouraged and liked just as much as anyone else. Hades and Zeus gripped either one of his hands, and maybe that made him grin just a little bit more. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> next chapter will be Zeus' POV!!!!!! yay!!!! I feel like I've been neglecting my boy this will be a good change
> 
> also take a shot every time I mention or imply Poseidon is short/light kajhdfkhjkgjhskd. lemme know if y'all want me to tone that down I just rlly like to make fun of my boi sjkhdgkjsh.  
> anyway I hope you enjoyed!!!! thank you sm for reading and make sure you stay safe!!! wash ur hands and stay home!!! love u!!!!


	11. zeus is an angsty boiii (not rlly tho) (kinda) (but not really)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zeus' POV with some spicy takes on Zeus and Annabeth being hot. also special big three time at the end
> 
> that sounded weird

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone!!! Im so, so sorry about the late update :(((( It's been like,,,three weeks????? dude thats too long :( Tbh it's just because I've been focusing on my original work. I'm afraid that chapters might on average be a week and a half/two weeks apart for the next few months :( I usually aim for six days but writing two full length novels at the same time is hard. I'll still try to get in that six day range though so still check!!! Also not a lot happens in this chapter which I'm going to kind of talk about in the end of chapter notes but it does explain some Zeus stuff and a kinda important meeting thing happens so yee. Enjoy!!!

**_Previously on ‘Really? Again? My poor salad’: “Hades and Zeus gripped either one of his hands, and maybe that made him grin just a little bit more.”_ **

Zeus’ POV

Zeus thought Poseidon might have finally gotten his break. Kids came up to congratulate him or simply give him a fist bump after the game ended, grins on their flushed faces and resentment of Poseidon blown away in the wind. It did not surprise Zeus: resentment was not difficult to let go of when one had nothing to resent. Or, at least, it shouldn’t be. They continued to do so the next day and into the morning of the following, some even coming up to hug him. It gave Zeus an odd feeling as he watched, one that crawled up his spine and tickled the back of his neck. It was obvious Poseidon did not appreciate them as much as the others either, face falling flat and every feature drooping delicately downwards as they went in for one. Poseidon liked being touched, just not by strangers. Zeus had noticed that a while ago. He even showed mild discomfort when Will touched his shoulder. This was especially true with the girls that came up: they went in for a full-on, traditional hug while most of the guys did a ‘man-hug’. Poseidon was forced to not only be embraced, but embrace as well. Zeus did not blame him for being uncomfortable.

Nonetheless, things had been looking up for him. 50% of campers had started treating him like he was any other camper, even more so than that at times. He was being high-fived as he walked places and smiled at by pretty girls as he hiked up the bleachers at the campfire.

Zeus thought Poseidon might have finally gotten his break. 

He was wrong.

By Sunday, things had started to die down, but when Monday came around it was pretty much all gone. Campers got bored, they were already planning for next Friday, that was last week’s game. Do not get him wrong, Poseidon was not treated  _ badly _ by that 50%, but he wasn’t treated like a god should be either. But beggars couldn’t be choosers, and Poseidon glowed a little bit more than usual when the select few hard glares turned to soft smiles as he took his place at the campfire. Here’s where things got tricky - the  _ other  _ 50%.

Now don’t get him wrong, Zeus was not all sunshine and rainbows when Poseidon got the flag from him either. In fact, he was quite mortified by it. Even though he knew Poseidon was a powerful man at heart and knew strategies that worked in his favour, something about that skinny little 5’8 dork getting the flag from him wounded his pride a little. It was only seeing his reaction, the first genuine smile Poseidon had had on his face in gods know how long, that made him warm up. It was seeing his eyes light up and finally move with his smile, teeth shining in the rays of sun and face so undeniably _happy_ that struck Zeus far too hard for him to still be angry. Perhaps it was because he was the reason Poseidon hadn’t been like that in so long. Perhaps it was because he just liked seeing Poseidon happy.

However, the other campers on his team did not have the pleasure of seeing Poseidon like that. What they saw instead was a slimy bastard that had somehow cheated, because  _ how on earth  _ could  _ Poseidon  _ have beat Zeus? They saw a person they already disliked do something they disliked even more: win against them. And Poseidon was paying the price for it. 

It had started out with just subtle glares as the campers gathered for supper, looking at Poseidon like he was at fault for all wrongs in the world. Poseidon had shrunk away from them a little bit, slinging closer to Hades’ side. Zeus pretended he did not care or notice that he was closer to Poseidon at the time. But it was easily countered and ignored; another shit load of campers came up to him fawning and giddy, congratulating him like he had just  _ undone _ all the wrong in the world.

Then it moved onto cursing and booing as he walked by, and finally Zeus decided it wasn’t in Poseidon’s best interest to be walking around alone. He stuck close to Poseidon’s side that weekend, and Hades was not far off. He and his eldest brother did not look at each other while they walked with him, only addressing each other so Poseidon would not think anything was strange. 

There was another layer to it as well, and that was the people Chiron talked about the night he brought them into the big house. Ever since Friday, girls (and one or two guys) had been coming up to Poseidon, asking him random questions and trying to get him to engage in conversation. It caused a lot of second-hand embarrassment, as all Poseidon did was seize up and glance uncomfortably from side to side, awkwardly stuttering out responses. Now: Zeus just assumed they were those people, but it was an educated guess. It was the same six or seven people who came up to him every time, each time acting like they had gotten closer with him because they exchanged about ten words total. Zeus stared at them intensely the whole time, and it was working pretty well. Most of them glanced at him and Hades while they attempted to talk to Poseidon, eyes nervous. Zeus didn’t know why he was so against them talking to his elder brother, Poseidon could use getting laid, but he was. He could use getting laid too, if he was going to be honest. Hades was too much of a nice dude, he had to actually develop a relationship with a person beforehand. He’d always been the odd duck. Zeus wondered if he only jacked off to Persephone, too. Nonetheless, these people gave him eerie vibes, and he didn’t want Poseidon anywhere near them.  _ You mean Poseidon might be stupid enough to engage with them if you don’t intervene and it might get you in trouble.  _ Zeus clenched his jaw.  _ Yeah, that’s why. Don’t care too much, asshole. _

And listen: Zeus hadn’t meant for it to be a competition. No, really. He didn’t. But somehow, he found himself glaring harder at the girls and guys that came up, watching Hades out of the corner of his eye. He paid close attention to who the people glanced at more, who they were more scared of. Who was capable of protecting Poseidon more. Not that he was protecting him because he was concerned, or anything.

“Hello? Mr. Zeus?”

Zeus glanced up from the legs of a bunk bed, up at the young girl that was talking. Oh yes. They were planning the games. They were in the Athena cabin this time, and fittingly the girl talking was a carbon copy of her mother, eyes perhaps a little softer. Representatives from the Ares, Hermes, Hephaestus and Apollo cabins were also there, and they were all crammed together in the cabin, some sitting criss-cross on the floor. The girl was standing in front of them, at the white board that was written and drawn on so much it was completely blue. He straightened and cleared his throat. “My apologies, yes?”

The girl’s cheeks instantly coloured and her ears turned scarlet to match. “It’s okay,” she squeaked, “we were just wondering what colour each team should be? We usually give light blue to Hermes and dark blue to Poseidon, but you also need a colour.”

Zeus thought for a moment, not minding when all eyes turned on him. “Will young Perseus or Poseidon be competing?”

“Uh…” she glanced to a group of blondes in the corner, eyes wide. They nodded their heads. She turned back to him. “Yeah, I think so. Percy always comes back for competitions, unless he’s on a quest or something. I’m not sure about P-Poseidon.” She went a little pale as she said his name. 

Zeus could tell she wasn’t sure if she was allowed to say it or not. It took the first three meetings for them to grasp that it was okay to say Zeus’ name, and he assumed it would take several more for all of them to realize they could say Poseidon and Hades’ too, so he didn’t bother. Some of them would probably never say Hades, anyway. He used to take issue with people addressing him by just his name when they were not related to him, but he didn’t feel like being addressed as “lord” while he looked like this. It was degrading to his true godly self.

“Perhaps we can give light blue to Hermes, greenish-blue to Poseidon, and navy to me?” he suggested, keeping his voice calm. He noticed people didn’t argue or even mildly imply they didn’t like his ideas if he was too forward with his tone. The point of this was to discuss, not for him to tell a bunch of teenagers what to do. He was surprised to find he didn’t mind not having complete control too much. Perhaps it was just a change, a breath of fresh air. He hoped it would not stay for too long, but for now he could enjoy it. “Those seem different enough.”

The girl nodded frantically. That was another thing: when they did agree with him, they exaggerated it, feeling the need to praise him as if he had just cured all of the world’s cancer. He felt somewhat guilty calling it irritating, but it was. “That’s a great idea,” the girl said. She looked out at the rest of the people in the cabin. “Right guys? What do you guys think?”

Most of the cabin nodded or gave some other form of confirmation, and those who didn’t did not protest. The girl nodded and scribbled some more things on the board. “Okay! So to review: navy for Zeus, blue-y green for Poseidon, black for H..,” she faltered and visibly swallowed, “H-Hades, green for Demeter, yellow for Apollo—”

She went through the rest of them and Zeus zoned out. The starting to their days were always the most boring, and they were so up to about lunch. They started planning what they were really going to focus on the half hour before lunch and then finally got into the good stuff afterwards. Some people enjoyed the first half better, as it was more of the technicalities and details, and though they needed to get that sorted out, Zeus liked the big picture more. The prizes, the times, the penalties, the overall rules...those were far more interesting.

As he zoned out, he picked up on the lingering stares on him. Most had turned their attention to the girl at the board (Ashley? Amanda? Averly? Amelia? Something like that), but some lingered on him. He did not mind it. He’ll admit it may be arrogant of him, but he thought most of them were mostly likely just admiring his outward appearance. The only people that seemed to not show that were the younger kids, who looked at him with a star-struck amazement in their eyes. There were only a couple of them however, and Zeus thought it was safe to say most were simply interested. He hoped they were over eighteen, but a stare was a stare. He just had to make sure to not return it.

After another few conversations Zeus hoped were not important, Ashley (?) sat down and Annabeth took her place. Zeus pulled himself out of his daze and sat straighter, clearing his throat. Usually this is where stuff started to get interesting, even if it wasn’t the real intriguing stuff. A few people glanced over at him, but looked away once they realized he hadn’t cleared his throat to get attention. Annabeth tied her hair up in a ponytail, messy curls looking like they hadn’t been brushed in days. She had changed quite a lot since Zeus last saw her at the end of the first war. It wasn’t a difference he could pinpoint, as it had only been a year or two, but she looked far more like a woman now. Distantly, Zeus felt somewhat melancholy. He’d never admit it, but he had enjoyed watching the demigods throughout their battles and quests (whether that was because he was waiting for them to fail or not is irrelevant). He could still perfectly envision the 12/13-year-old girl mortified at the fact she had to go on a boat ride with Percy Jackson. It was almost nostalgic.

Nonetheless, the woman at the front of the room cleared her throat to silence any light chatter that had started after Ashley sat down. It worked, and she uncapped her whiteboard marker. “Okay everyone, we’re going to zoom by this one today, there’s a cabin meeting after lunch. So we’re just going to get right into the main points, alright? I believe we left off on penalties?”

Most of the cabin nodded, but before Annabeth could continue Zeus interrupted, brows furrowed. “Shall Poseidon, Hades and I attend that meeting, Mrs. Chase?” Zeus asked. He hadn’t heard of one, but as the only member in his cabin he had a feeling it might have something to do with him. A few of the younger kids whipped their heads towards him.

Annabeth turned her intense eyes at him, but it did not bother him like it did with Poseidon. It was strange to him, Poseidon’s reaction. He looked instantly on edge every time. It made him wonder if he should’ve tried harder to ease his and Athena’s rivalry. Regardless, Annabeth nodded. “You and Poseidon should, yes. Nico is the head of the Hades cabin, but it wouldn’t hurt for Hades to show up as well.”

A few people shifted at the use of the name, but Zeus ignored it and nodded. “Very well, thank you.”

Annabeth nodded and turned once more. “What were some things we decided on, does anyone remember?”

  
Zeus’ education was limited to his mother training him and thousands of years of life, but he still felt very much like a student in elementary school with the way Annabeth was presenting herself. “If you get two severe penalties or three mild ones you’re thrown out of the game,” he said.

Annabeth nodded and scribbled that down. “And what did we consider severe/not severe?”

A few people glanced over nervously before they raised their hands. Zeus tried to ignore it and let out an internal sigh. He did not need to dominate the conversation because he spoke a few words. Nonetheless, the kids loosened up and told her. Well, one did at least. “Severe ones are blows to the face or head, magical enhancement without permission, and any sort of killing or maiming. Less severe ones are any kind of mild cheating like setting up a distraction in the crowd, injuring the horse instead of the person, or purposely trying to take off the other person’s armour. Also, hitting the person in any place the armour isn’t covering.”

Annabeth nodded, wrists flying at a million miles and hour. 

“We also said we might add some more when we really discuss the rules,” someone else said. “We might change them up a little from actual jousting. Apparently the medieval times weren’t too friendly.”

Zeus and many others nodded. Those times were prime for kings and other royalties, but lord were they violent. That may be a little rich coming from him and the place he grew up, but regardless.

“Alright, is that everything?” she asked, turning around to look at the crowd with one eyebrow slightly raised. Nods and a few “I think so”’s echoed around the room and she nodded. “Okay, is there anything else we want to add on or cover?”

“We need to discuss the amount of time for each penalty,” Zeus said, at the same time as someone said “Times”. He looked over at the girl and she squeaked, scooching closer to who Zeus assumed was her brother. He looked away, internally sighing again. What was to be afraid of? He didn’t even have his powers.

“You mean for when someone has gotten a penalty but not enough to be thrown out of the game yet?” Annabeth asked, eyes boring into his. He nodded. She looked away to the rest of the crowd. “Wouldn’t it make more sense to give them a punishment that prevents them from doing as well in the game? It’s not like normal sports, they’d benefit from a break.”

“It would also make it less likely for people to do it,” someone added.

Annabeth nodded at the girl and murmurs of agreement circled around the room. Zeus hummed. He hadn’t thought about that, but it did make sense. All a time break would do is give the offender time to rest and recharge. “Should we give the point to the other person?” he asked, feeling eyes shift to him once more.

Annabeth seemed to contemplate, eyes stormy and weighing. She leaned most of her weight on one hip, rocking so slightly it was barely noticeable. “I suppose that would stop any potential cheating, but it’s a little harsh.”

“I don’t know, I think that’s how it worked back then,” Clarisse grunted. Zeus glanced at her with mild surprise. She’d come in late. “Something like if you throw the lance away points are taken off.” 

Murmurs of agreement followed and Annabeth nodded. “Alright then.” She wrote it down on the board. “Anything else?”

They went through penalties quite quickly after that, and dove into rules near lunchtime. Zeus was happy they got into the stuff he liked quicker that day, though the meeting was fresh on his mind. What were they going to talk about? Did he have to prepare? He was used to being the one that hosted and organized meetings, not knowing what to expect from one was unnerving. Vaguely, he wondered who the other heads of the cabins were. He knew Annabeth was head of the Athena one, and he was fairly sure that the Drew girl he’d seen around was head of the Aphrodite cabin, but he wasn’t sure about the other ones. It could be Riley, but she must’ve been new. 

Speaking of Riley, he was very conflicted about the girl. Well no—he hated her, but there were some okay things about her. He liked the fact she acted like he was any camper, but most kids here knew to not insult him or his brothers and when to back off. She seemed to not quite have grasped those facts yet. He’d told her to fuck off many times before (well— “please excuse yourself young miss, I have things to do” but that was practically the same thing), but she seemed to not get the hint. Alas, Zeus was going to have to be more aggressive. He’d really let this whole mortal thing soften him up. You can’t blame someone for intruding if you have no barriers. Something about her just riled him up, whether that be the way she treated her comrades in contrast to how she treated him, or that incident with Poseidon. It made him both cringe and clench his fists as he looked back. Yeah, maybe he insulted Poseidon sometimes, but no one else was allowed to. That was just a given.

It was a brother thing. Yeah.

Regardless, the meeting came to an end all too soon. The members of the meeting all stood and filed out of the cabin, and Zeus stopped to thank Annabeth before heading out himself. It was a nice day as usual, with a warm breeze and blue skies. The grass no longer had dew on it like it had when he first entered the cabin after breakfast, but was still lush and green as usual. A few people started heading towards him and he picked up his pace, turning farther away from them. As much as he appreciated the fact that he wasn’t getting treated like Poseidon or Hades, he did not want to talk to people 24/7. They thankfully seemed to get the hint and backed off.

The dining pavilion approached, and he already saw three heads of black hair and one head of curly light brown hair. He smiled lightly at the sight. Annabeth must’ve kept them just a few minutes too long. Speaking of which, all four heads turned towards him as he took his seat next to Poseidon, greetings spilling out of everyone's mouth.

“Hey,” Zeus responded, smiling. 

It was strange, going back to being casual after a few hours of acting like a god (at least grammar wise). At least he wasn’t like Poseidon, who had fallen into the bad habit of acting casual all the time, but still. Zeus suspected that was part of the reason he was having such a hard time gaining respect, if he was going to be honest. He didn’t mention it, though. Poseidon would take it as “change everything about you because you’re annoying”. Okay, maybe not, but Zeus feared messing up again. Hades was already way ahead of him, he did not need to help him along any further. He’ll admit Poseidon’s sensitivity was annoying at times, though. He wouldn’t dare say that out loud, but it was a pain in the ass having to watch what he said all the time. Poseidon didn’t used to be like that. 

_ Is it because of you?  _

At first he’d come to the conclusion that hormones had changed him, but doubt still plagued his mind. He’d only started being openly upset after Zeus started spending time with him...And it was mostly only Hades comforting him. Dread and guilt swirled in his gut. Was Hades his favourite by a lot? Did he hate Zeus secretly? Zeus wouldn’t blame him.

Speak of the devil, Poseidon looked at him. “Is everything alright?”

He raised an eyebrow as he made eye contact. Poseidon’s eyes were even bigger now that he was a teenager, wide with what looked like 4000 year-old-innocence, if that made sense. Doe-eyed, Zeus assumed would be the right word. Much different than the stormy hardness he was used to. “Yes, I’m fine, thank you. Why?”

“You looked a little…” he paused, looking like he was debating the right word, “constipated.” He broke into a laugh.

Hades and Nico snorted while Hazel joined Poseidon in his laughter and Zeus rolled his eyes, smiling. “Constipated?”

“Yeah,” Poseidon said, eyes now sparkling as he grinned. “I don’t know how else to describe it.”

“I think that describes it perfectly,” Hades said, chuckling.

Zeus rolled his eyes again. “I am not constipated, thank you.”

Poseidon laughed and nudged him. Zeus looked down at him. He always looked the same when he laughed: eyes bright and cheeks flushed, smile gleaming white. Zeus looked away and pretended he didn’t notice. “Did you guys hear about the meeting after lunch?”

Nico snapped his head up. “Oh yeah, I almost forgot about that.”

“The what?” Poseidon asked, brows furrowing. 

Hades nodded. “Chiron told me about it.”

Poseidon whipped his head around to him too, looking like a lost puppy. He always looked like a puppy nowadays. “What?”

“It’s a meeting for the heads of cabins,” Nico explained. “Where we meet up and talk about shit, I don’t know. I don’t know why Chiron scheduled this one, it might just be checking in or something. It’s usually for pressing issues but sometimes it's not.”

“So should I go?” Poseidon asked.

Nico shrugged, so Zeus explained for him. “Annabeth said that all three of us should go, just for good measure.”

Poseidon nodded, looking a little nervous now as he sipped his apple juice. Gods, he was acting like a kid again. Zeus almost envied him. (Then again, Zeus assumed it was apple juice. It could be beer or something).

“Wait, why would Hades go?” Nico asked, brow furrowing. “I’m the head of the Hades cabin.”

“Yes, well your father  _ is _ Hades,” Zeus argued lightly, looking down at his plate. “Turkey sandwich with a ceasar salad and grape juice.” Hey, if Poseidon could have juice, he could too. Just maybe not apple. The food appeared on his plate.

Nico glanced at Hades with an emotion Zeus could only describe as a negative one. “Oh, yeah. Right.” He looked down at his plate and stabbed his fries.

Awkwardness filled the air. “You can still go, Nico,” Hades said uncomfortably. “Chiron advised me to come, but he never said anything about it being in replacement of you.”

“Yeah.” The boy shoved the fries in his mouth and continued to glare at his plate. Zeus refrained from shifting uncomfortably. He had his fair share of sons and daughters being cross with him, but never in such a passive-aggressive way. Nico didn’t seem like a very passive-aggressive person, so Zeus vaguely wondered if there was something else going on that he didn't know about.

Hades seemed a little off too, clearing his throat awkwardly and shifting in his seat. Hazel chewed on her lip and looked at her plate, just as stiff as the other two. Zeus glanced between the three, eyes narrowing. They had gotten into a fight. Or—Nico and Hades had gotten into a fight and Hazel was there. Zeus wondered what it was about. He’d ask Hades later. While they weren’t close by any means, they were at least on speaking terms. 

Distantly, Zeus wished it was more than that. He shoved the feeling away. It was his own fault.

But he still looked at Poseidon and Hades sometimes, the way they gravitated together, probably without them even knowing. They way Poseidon buried his face in Hades’ chest, the way Hades looked at Poseidon when he thought no one was looking. The longing to be like them, whether in the place of Hades or Poseidon, was immense and crushing, pulling at his gut 24/7 and slowly driving him mad. But he did not make any moves to be closer with them. It was slim, he thought, the chances of him ever doing so. Ten months was a few minutes to them. It would all be for nothing soon. There was no point in letting himself get soft for a few months.

Poseidon cleared his throat awkwardly. “So how was everyone’s morning?”

“Good, thanks,” Hades said, relief not quite concealed in his voice. “Chiron, Dionysus and I have moved onto math now, we decided we’re going to do it.”

“Oh, that’s nice. What are you thinking?” Poseidon took a bite of his sandwich. He looked like a chipmunk or any other kind of cute animal when he ate, moving the food to the side of his mouth so it poked out his cheek. He also put a comical amount of effort into chewing, which made Zeus smile. His cheeks were less defined now, and matched with his big eyes he looked weird when he ate. Well—cute, but Zeus thought describing someone as cute when they ate was a little weird. Zeus wondered if he noticed.

“Oh, just the standard stuff. It’s a lot more simple than the other subjects are going to be, I think. It’s just going to be the math curriculum for whatever grade you would be in.”

Poseidon nodded, and a slightly awkward pause followed so Zeus filled it. “Mine was good too. We’re discussing rules now. We’re changing them up a little from how they were back in the middle ages.”

Poseidon looked at him and took another bite of his sandwich. “Oh, that’s cool. What are you guys thinking?”

The rest of lunch was spent with small talk, Zeus explaining how the meeting went and Poseidon talking a little bit about the infirmary. The cabin meeting was on the back of Zeus’ mind the whole time, daunting him and making it hard to pay attention. He was so on edge with potential scenarios that when Annabeth stood from the Athena table, he jumped up too, cutting Poseidon off mid-sentence. The whole table stared at him. 

His cheeks burned. “Annabeth stood up,” he explained, trying not to stutter, “I think the meeting is going to start.”

“Why were you looking at Annabeth?” Poseidon asked, a strange tint to his voice.

Zeus looked down at him. “I wasn’t looking at her specifically, just...Well, yeah. Just to see when the meeting was going to start.”

Poseidon got a strange look in his eyes, one that Zeus could not describe but that made him want to wrap the older up in a hug and bury him under piles of blankets. Confusion entered Zeus in a wave, furrowing his brow. Had he said something wrong? Was Poseidon protective of Annabeth all of the sudden? But it wasn’t anger, it was like...jea—

“I could’ve told you when to get up,” Hades said, amusement in his eyes. “Chiron simply said it was after lunch, so we can take as much time as we want.” He paused, a contemplating look in his eyes. “Well—until lunch ends, obviously.”

Zeus’ cheeks warmed further and he looked back at Annabeth. “So why is she getting up?”

“Maybe she just finished her food early,” Hazel giggled.

“Oh, right. Yes.” Zeus cleared his throat awkwardly and sat back down. Poseidon snickered and quickly brought up his apple juice to cover his mouth. Zeus scowled.

Once everyone finished their meals, they finally stood and headed for the big house, with the exception of Hazel who waved them goodbye and bid them a good meeting. They returned the wave and Hades wished her a good afternoon. It always felt a little strange, whenever the three of them walked in a group. And now with Nico added on, it felt even clunkier. But that didn’t really bother Zeus, what did was the endless and shameless stares of campers as they passed, their eyes lingering on them until they were almost out of sight. He’d also been having issues with people staring at them in a sexual way, and while it didn’t bother him as much, Poseidon and Hades shifted, clinging closer together. Zeus always looked away.

For now however, the stares remained innocent, but no more welcomed. Zeus squeezed closer to Poseidon’s side, and he felt Hades’ stare on him for a moment before the eldest of the three squeezed in too. Nico looked at them oddly, but did not comment. 

When they got to the big house, a small group of people were already gathered. Zeus picked out Annabeth, Will and Clarisse, but the rest had their backs turned or simply weren’t familiar to him. They had a table set up on the deck with Chiron and Dionysus standing at one end, but only a few people had sat down. 

“Are we late?” Zeus asked.

“I don’t think so, they haven’t started yet,” Poseidon responded, edging closer to him. Warmth and excitement built up in Zeus’ chest, and he moved closer as well, keeping his face cool. It was a rare occasion Poseidon leaned more to his side, he would not waste it. The ground tilted slightly, so Poseidon was shorter than usual, only coming up to about his chin. On the other hand, Nico was on the other side of him which made the boy almost the same height as him, which was….well, a no no. It felt weird, let’s say. He didn't feel the slightest bit guilty when he felt Hades’ stare on him.

“They might be waiting for us, though,” Nico said roughly, voice scratchy from lack of use.

“Oh, yeah, true,” Poseidon said, suddenly looking worried. Zeus pretended he didn’t look like a puppy whose owner was taking too long at the store for Poseidon’s own sake.

Zeus picked up his pace while also glancing at Poseidon to make sure he followed. “Well, let’s hurry then.” 

Poseidon nodded, and the four of them took up a somewhere-between-speed walking-and-jogging pace, all of them varying on what level of the scale they were at. When they got there, all heads turned towards them and Chiron clapped, smiling.

“Hello brothers, Mr. di Angelo.” He gave a nod to all of them. 

Zeus, Nico and Hades nodded back.

“Hi!” Poseidon responded.

Chiron’s smile turned extra warm for a second as he looked at the middle brother, and then went back to normal as he addressed the crowd. “Alright everyone, we may now begin. Please take a seat.”

Zeus was about to walk around the table to find one, but every camper that was standing near him scattered to another part of the table. He raised an eyebrow.  _ Alright then. _ Instead, he took one of the three seats at the end of the table, and Poseidon and Hades sat on either side of him.

After another few moments, all the demigods were seated and Chiron cleared his throat. “Welcome everyone.” A chorus of ‘thank you’’s and ‘welcome—wait what’’s followed. “As I’m sure you all know, I have summoned the heads of the cabins for today’s meeting. Before any of you ask, no it is not vital or life-threatening.” Sighs of relief echoed through the crowd, and Zeus let out a little breath of his own. “I have simply collected you to inform you all of dates and upcoming events, as well as a small PSA. What would you like me to start with?”

There was a mix of replies, but when Zeus said: “The PSA, please,” most of the campers quickly changed their minds.

“So the PSA first?” Chiron smiled, looking out at the table. Most campers nodded. “Alright, it is a quick one. I simply ask all of you to remember the basics of respect from this day forward. From what I have seen and heard from other campers, your treatment of a select few campers over the past few weeks and specifically the past few days have been completely unacceptable.” A few campers shifted their gazes down, while others shifted them to Poseidon. Zeus did as well, only to find him beet red. Chiron continued. “The stories I have heard have been embarrassing, and I am ashamed that I have raised people that could say and do such vile things. We are all the same here. Blood and hearts and emotions. Do not let your prejudices blind you from that. From now on, if you hear of any harassment from campers to those select individuals, you shall call me or intervene yourself. Am I understood?”

With some heads down, a simultaneous “Yes, Chiron,” followed.

“What is the punishment if we don’t?” someone asked. He looked like a minor god Zeus couldn’t quite place a finger on. 

Chiron turned his gaze to the boy, eyes suddenly sharp. “There is no need for such a question, as you shall follow what I say, yes?”

The boy paled a little and stuttered. “Yes, yes, I know. I wasn’t planning not to. I j-just want to know what the punishment would be if we like…” he shifted his eyes to the side, “—forgot to or something.”

Chiron’s gaze relented a little. “I see, Mr. Aucoin. It depends on how severe the harassment was. If you were the one harassing, the consequences would be severe, however…” he pondered his words, “unfortunately I do not see how we could punish anyone for not intervening. But again, Mr. Aucoin, you are expected to.”

“Yes, yes, I know,” the boy said, putting his hands up in a surrender-like position. When Chiron nodded and looked away, the boy got a relieved smile on his face. Zeus looked at him with disgust.

Chiron turned his old gaze to the rest of the table. “You shall pass this message on to your cabin members, yes?” It was phrased like a question, but it was not one. Everyone nodded, some frantically.

Zeus smiled, a little relief flooding him. Though maybe campers weren’t going to take the whole intervening thing seriously, this would hopefully lessen the cuss words thrown at Poseidon as he passed, and prevent anything worse from happening in the future. Though Chiron did not specifically say Poseidon or Hades, everyone knew they were who he was talking about. Poseidon was still beet red beside him, and Zeus didn’t blame him. Members from around the table snuck glances at him, some with disdain and some with curiosity.

Chiron went on to explain upcoming dates and events, such as check up’s for the hygiene of cabins, when education may be starting (earning cries of protest and groans), and the timeline for getting training lessons back on track (earning some cheers and some groans). Zeus was on the edge of his seat the whole meeting, but nothing exciting happened, nothing that needed preparation or debate. It was mostly just a...meet-up instead of a meeting, if that made sense. When it was over, Zeus was left with an odd feeling, kind of like a “that’s it?”.

Well, that was it and everyone stood, bidding Chiron a good afternoon and walking as fast as their legs could carry them out of there. Zeus, Poseidon and Hades were some of the last to stand, visible confusion on their faces. Well—Zeus and Poseidon’s faces, Hades looked normal. Chiron did not seem surprised at their confusion and simply bid them a good day, eyes twinkling. Zeus took the hint, grabbing Poseidon’s arm lightly and walking off the deck. Hades followed, and the three of them were the second-last to leave, only Clarisse trailing behind them.

Apparently that was for a reason, because a shout of “Hey Poseidon!” stopped them in their tracks. Poseidon whipped his head around and Zeus and Hades turned, brows furrowed. Clarisse was a few paces away from them, but wasted no time closing that gap, pace strong and hard. As she got closer, Poseidon took a step back, eyes wide. Zeus stepped closer to him, brows furrowing further as Clarisse approached. What was she doing?

When she was about two feet ahead of them she stopped, glaring at Poseidon. Well—looking at him. Her stare was just a natural glare, Zeus had learned. “Hey.”

“H...hi?” Poseidon responded, colour gone from his face.

Clarisse looked like she was refraining from rolling her eyes (and failing). “Hi. I just wanted to...say sorry for how the people on my team have been treating you.” She looked physically pained while she said it. “I didn’t tell them to act the way they are.”

Poseidon turned an even deeper red. “Oh, it’s fine.”

Clarisse eyed him up, then nodded. “Okay.” And with that, she strode off again.

The three of them were left looking at her turned back, confused.

***Time Break***

“Can we go into my cabin?” Poseidon blurted.

“What?”

“Can we go into my cabin?” Poseidon repeated, red darkening his cheeks. “I...I don’t know. I miss hanging out with you guys. It’s lonely in my cabin.”

Zeus smiled, trying to not let it grow too wide. ‘Lonely’ was an understatement of what it was like when alone in those cabins. Dark, empty beds around you, the night wind howling outside your window...And especially, his own eyes glaring down at him. It made  _ him  _ shudder. “Sure.”

They were walking back from the campfire, the smell of smoke and marshmallows fresh in the air. Campers were chatting all around them, hands in their pockets as the night grew colder. Annabeth and Piper were a few people ahead of them, Annabeth’s hair visible over the crowd. They were near the front of the crowd this time, with campers surrounding them on all sides. It was somewhat claustrophobic, but thankfully they weren’t tightly compact like some nights. 

Hades shrugged. “Alright.” He brought his arm around Poseidon’s shoulders. Poseidon leaned his head against him, snuggling closer. Zeus looked determinedly ahead.

When they reached the Poseidon cabin Poseidon slipped out from under Hades’ arm and opened the door, holding it open for them. Hades gestured for Zeus to go in first, and he did so with a reluctant thank you. A few campers gave them weird looks (well, a lot of them did), but they ignored them. The cabin was just how he remembered it when they watched The Lion King, the bed just as messy and the fountain running lightly. The TV was dusty in the corner, letting Zeus know Poseidon hadn’t spent too much time watching Voltron. Poseidon flicked on the lightswitch, and the cabin grew more familiar, with the occasional clothes that weren’t there before scattered on the floor. There was the occasional boxer or brief, and Poseidon brushed them away with his feet, a blush on his face. It made Zeus suppress a smile.

Hades shut the door behind them, and Poseidon plopped down on the bottom bunk. Zeus sat down next to him, and Hades soon followed, sitting on the opposite end.

“What do you want to do?” Zeus asked, looking around the cabin to ease the sudden awkwardness.

“I don’t know,” Poseidon said, ears going red. “I just wanted to talk with you guys. It’s been forever since we...I don’t know. Hung out.” There was a pause, and Poseidon’s entire face turned red. “This is dumb, sorry.”

“What? No, it’s fine,” Hades said, smiling. He looked exactly like he did when Zeus rescued him from Kronos’ stomach, if a little healthier-looking. His hair was getting long, and he wasn’t gelling it back like he always did when they were gods. It hung around his face in loose curls, just a shade darker than Zeus and Poseidon’s. Zeus thought it made him look like a band member, or a put-together crackhead. He was the only one of them that had a little scruff, but it was more of a five o’clock shadow and was barely noticeable. Zeus missed his facial hair. It had been millennia since he was bare-faced, and it felt weird. Apollo was a fan of it, but he felt too boyish. Probably because, technically, he was a boy now. Still. If he could pick three things he missed the most it would be height, larger muscle mass, and facial hair. So...everything.

“We can watch a movie if you’d like,” Zeus suggested, trying not to sound too interested.

Poseidon’s face lit up. “Okay!” He scrambled off the bed, and Zeus watched him go with a smile on his face. He got out the disc compartments and sat on his calves, starting to call out names. “Okay, it’s the same as last time but I’ll call them out anyways ‘cause I’ve forgotten what they are. We have...Aladdin, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone—”

“Can we watch that?” Hades interrupted.

Poseidon looked up. “Harry Potter?”

“Yeah,” Hades said, his smile a little embarrassed, “Nico told me Cerberus is in it.” 

Poseidon got a big, dorky smile on his face that made Zeus want to wrap him up in a hug and rock him back and forth like a toddler. He did not do that, obviously. “Okay! I only got to watch The Order of the Phoenix and a little bit of The Half Blood Prince while we were in Percy’s apartment, I haven’t watched the first one in forever.”

Being honest, Zeus didn’t really feel like watching Harry Potter, but he didn’t want to erase the bright look on Poseidon’s face. And Hades might be mad at him. But Hades was always mad at him. Still.

Poseidon removed the disc and placed it into the TV, waiting for it to start playing before he got up, turned on a lamp, switched the lights off, and ran over to the bed. He jumped onto the bed, making it squeak and the mattress bounce. Zeus and Hades bounced with it, letting out curses and a few laughs. Poseidon was grinning as he moved so his back was against the wall, pushing his legs under the blanket. “Get under.” He patted the places beside him. 

Zeus grinned, wasting no time in getting over there and under the blankets with him, scooching as close to Poseidon as he could without being too forward. Hades didn’t seem to take that into consideration, yet again slipping his arm over Poseidon’s shoulder. Poseidon smiled and snuggled into him. 

Zeus swallowed as he watched them, grin feeling a little more forced all of the sudden. When Poseidon looked over, he looked away. It was an odd feeling: not quite like he was the third wheel but like he had failed to become part of the bike, if that made sense. Was that the same thing? It felt different. Like it was meant to be a tricycle but he messed up the molding along the way. So now it was some odd combination, where one of the wheels was trying to cling on to the third but the third kept messing up and sliding away. Perhaps he shouldn’t be complaining. Perhaps he shouldn’t even be here.

He suddenly felt warm fingertips touching his own, and he looked over with brows furrowed. Poseidon was giving him a confused but kind look, brow furrowed and lips pulled down into a delicate frown. He looked nice, in this lighting. The blue of the TV screen and yellow of the lamp cast light on the plump, smooth skin of his face and highlighted his eyes so they looked more like crystals than the ocean. None of them had gotten Apollo’s curse of acne, thankfully. Zeus had the sudden urge to play with Poseidon’s hair, but instead he just intertwined their fingers. An odd feeling creeped into his chest, making his stomach feel, to a much lighter degree, like he was plummeting off the drop of a roller coaster. Poseidon smiled at him, and it only made the feeling increase. Gods, he needed to get more physical affection. If he was going to go around acting like this when he got it, he might as well feed his pride to the fucking eagles. Nonetheless, he smiled back.

The opening music was still playing as he looked back at the TV. Even as the first few scenes started playing, he wasn’t paying attention, his mind focused on the feeling of Poseidon’s hand. It was warm and a little calloused, smaller than his and a little darker too. Zeus had always envied his brother’s ability to hold a tan, and get one so easily. His fingernails had gotten long, but so had Zeus’. Stuff like that just fixed themselves while they were gods so he didn’t have a nail clipper or anything. Poseidon was wearing a camp half blood hoodie, one that Zeus assumed Percy left behind. It was worn in, the sleeves a little scruffy against Zeus’ bare wrist. He didn’t mind it though, and continued to “watch” the movie.

About twenty minutes in, he realized he’d begun stroking Poseidon’s hand with his thumb and froze, looking over. Poseidon had a blush on his face, a little faded out in the low lighting. Zeus removed his hand, his own cheeks heating. “Sorry,” he whispered.  _ Gods, why the fuck did you do that? Creepy, much? _

Poseidon looked at him with wide eyes, and Hades looked over too with curiosity in his eyes. “It’s fine,” Poseidon whispered back, smiling, dimples sinking in lightly. He grabbed Zeus’ hand again, rubbing his thumb around Zeus’s knuckles just as Zeus had with him a few moments prior.

Zeus’s cheeks warmed more and he smiled back. Just before he looked back at the TV screen, he made eye contact with Hades. The look in his older brother’s eyes was almost unreadable, but Zeus thought he caught a glimpse of envy. The look disappeared, and Hades gave a miniscule smile before looking back at the TV screen. Zeus did too. 

The rest of the movie was spent with him thinking of the gentle pad of Poseidon’s thumb stroking the back of his hand and the odd, suspicion-worthy look in Hades’ eyes. 

  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so idk if this is too long akjhfkjhdgkj. We're already at 70k and I've barely started the juicy stuff if at all so plz tell me if you're getting bored!!! I know I've warned y'all that this was going to be slow burn but I know a lot of you didn't expect it to be this slow burn so idk. This might end up like 200-300k and I want to know if thats too much for yall. (watch this end up 150k like my last one kasjkbskdj. it probably isn't going to but it would be funny if I warned y'all about it being so long and then it isn't kasjnskgdjhk). Also I know I don't have a lot of just Zeus/Poseidon/Hades scenes anymore but I'll try to include more! The reason I'm including the infirmary so much is for plot reasons, but I know most of you came here for The Big Idiots so i'll try to include more scenes with just them. Also the next chapter is going to include some spicy Hades angst and will probably just pick up right from here except in Poseidon's POV!  
> Also!!! Let me know if you noticed any mistakes, and also if you have any suggestions! I love getting suggestions from you guys and they're usually good so there's a high chance I might include it! If not in the story than in the extra scenes so don't be afraid to comment! :)  
> Love you and thank you so much for reading!!!  
> Xx


	12. TEAAAAAA

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> hades angst but like,,,not TOO too bad. like it would make my chest hurt a little but my chest hurts when someone mispronounces my name so. but there's some SPICINESS. no spoilers but,,,,,I think y'all might like this one hehehehe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I AM SO SORRY!!!!!!  
> this is the LONGEST I'll EVER take on a chapter i SWEAR. I am so, so sorry. It's been almost a MONTH. dude. I'm so sorry. I moved this month but tbh that didn't take too too much of my time, I have just been procrastinating and also the stress from the move messed me up a lil. but still!!!! I am so sorry, I swear I will get back on a normal schedule!!!!! Plz forgive me!!! I made this one spicy for y'all at least, I hope you like it :((  
> grab some snacks and enjoy!!!

_**Previously on 'Really? Again? My poor salad': "The rest of the movie was spent with him thinking of the gentle pad of Poseidon’s thumb stroking the back of his hand and the odd, suspicion-worthy look in Hades’ eyes."** _

Well, Poseidon thought this was quite nice.

Harry throwing up a snitch on a bright, saturated screen illuminated the room, making him blink blearily and squint. It had seemed to brighten the more he got tired, volume amping up a few notches. Hades’ shoulder was firm beneath his cheek, the kind of solid that still felt manly even if Hades was a boy now. He clutched Zeus's hand, rubbing it gently. His eyelids were paperweights and the warmth and protection surrounding him only fed his urge to let them fall closed. 

Zeus leaned closer to him. “Is someone tired?”

Poseidon smiled, blinking heavily as he looked over. Zeus was closer than he expected and he withdrew quickly to avoid any incidents. “No.” He yawned.

Zeus laughed and he did too, smiling as he rested his head back on Hades’ shoulder. Zeus threw the covers off himself and moved to the end of the bed, hanging his legs off the edge. “Well, we should probably get going.” He reached for his shoes at the end of the bed and started putting them on.

Poseidon frowned, reaching his hand out to grab him but letting it fall back down as he realized Zeus was out of his reach. He didn't have the energy to move off of Hades' side. “What? Why?”

Zeus looked back at him, amusement in his eyes. “We’re not allowed to spend the night at another cabin, remember? Technically, we’re not even allowed to be in a cabin alone together anyway, because we’re all attracted to men.”

Poseidon pouted. “But Hades stayed over one time, no one said anything. Come back.”

Zeus’ brow furrowed as he looked up from tying his shoes. “What do you mean?”

Suddenly, both Zeus and Hades’ stare were boring into him, and a little bit of his tiredness slipped away. “Oh…” he shifted, “—Hades stayed over one night. It wasn’t planned or anything, we just wanted to talk and then it got really late.”

Zeus looked between them, eyes suddenly guarded. Poseidon’s gut sank. That was never a good sign. 

“We’re sorry for leaving you out,” Hades said smoothly. “We would have invited you had we known it was going to be…” he paused, “...bonding.”

“What do you mean it was random?” Zeus asked. His voice was emotionless, which usually meant he was hiding way too much emotion. Zeus having a lot of emotion was never a good thing. “One of you would’ve had to want to speak to the other, wouldn’t you?”

Hades nodded a little reluctantly. “That is correct. I had to speak to Poseidon about something.”

Poseidon swallowed. It was a night Zeus said something hurtful. Poseidon feared that might be taken out of context.

“What did you have to speak to him about?”

“He seemed upset.” Hades’ face remained cool. “I wanted to comfort him about it.”

“What was he upset by?” Zeus’ eyes were still guarded, but his body language was on edge.

Hades stared. Zeus stared back. Poseidon shifted his eyes between them, gut sinking to his shoes. “He was upset about us planning apologies,” Hades explained calmly. “It was the night you stormed off at the campfire and when I said Poseidon was…” he trailed off, glancing towards Poseidon.

“Ugly?” Zeus asked.

Hades quickly snapped his gaze back to him. “My apologies?”

“You called him ugly.” Zeus finished tying his shoes but did not take his gaze off Hades. 

“I…” Hades cleared his throat. “I implied that, yes.”

Poseidon shifted, looking at the door like it was the most fascinating thing he’d ever seen in his life.

“So it wasn’t my fault,” Zeus said, voice hard.

Poseidon looked at him, brows furrowing. 

Hades wasn’t too far off. “Not entirely. I never implied it was?”

“Yes you did.” Zeus pointed a finger at him, breathing a little shaky. “You put me first.”

  
Hades looked at Zeus like he was an incredibly confusing puzzle who’s pieces kept shifting shapes. “What?”

“You said something I did before you said something you did, which made it sound like it was my fault.” Zeus was now glaring at him slightly, but still obviously trying to cover it up.

“Sorry?” Hades asked, voice raising in pitch. “I didn’t mean to. I was just answering your question. Why are you so upset?”

Zeus stood. “Because I’m tired of always being the bad guy!”

Poseidon jerked his head back, eyes going wide. It was loud. Very loud. There was a deafening silence after it, before it seemed to finally register into Hades’ head.

“ _ I  _ always make you the bad guy?" he asked, face screwing up. "You make yourself the bad guy!”

Zeus gripped at his hair. “You do bad stuff too! But I’m always the asshole of the three of us, I’m the one that....”

“That what?” Poseidon asked, eyes wide. _Where did this come from?_

“Nothing." Zeus looked at the door and shook his head, voice lowering. "I’m just tired of being the one that no one likes.”

“We like you!” Poseidon said, outraged. He sat up on the bed. “What are you on about?”

“Yes I do bad stuff, but you do worse stuff!” Hades said, seeming to be outraged. There was a beat of silence where they all registered how childishly it was phrased, but then took in the meaning and everything went back to how it was.

Zeus threw his arms up. “Yes, I know! You think I don’t know that? You think I think I’m some fucking angel or something?”

“Well your phrasing it like you are!”

“Well—!” He threw his hands up. “Sorry I guess! I just…” his hands fell back to his side. “I just want to...I just...oh, nevermind.” He headed towards the door, shaking his head again.

Poseidon scrambled off the bed, kicking off the blankets that had twisted in his legs. It didn’t work and he fell, landing on the floor with an “umph”. Hades immediately crawled towards him and Zeus spun on his heel, rushing over. “Oh my gods, are you okay?”

Poseidon turned on his back and clutched his nose, grumbling. He just had that fixed. “Yeah, I’m fine.” 

Zeus knelt next to him and ran his fingers through Poseidon’s hair, frowning. “Are you sure?”

Before he could get away, Poseidon shot off the ground and pulled him into a tight hug. He was a little too forceful and Zeus stumbled back before landing on his bum, but Poseidon still clutched on. He hugged him around his neck and buried his face into his collarbone.

“Woah!” Zeus said, almost falling completely back. 

Poseidon only clutched him tighter. “Don’t you _ever_ act like we don’t love you again.” His cheek was pressed against Zeus’ collarbone which altered his voice slightly, and he knew he sounded a little too chipmunk-like for him to really be intimidating. But he still tried.

Zeus hesitantly wrapped his arms around Poseidon too. He breathed in and slowly exhaled. “O...Okay.”

Poseidon squeezed his eyes shut. “What even made you think that?”

Zeus was silent for a long while. “It doesn’t matter.”

Poseidon moved his cheek from off Zeus’ shoulder and furrowed his brow at him. It just registered in his mind that he was sitting in Zeus’ lap, but he didn’t care. He was light. “Yes it does. Please tell me.”

Zeus looked away awkwardly. They were unusually close, but Poseidon didn’t dare back away. Zeus bit the inside of his lip, taking another moment to breath before he replied. “You and Hades just...I don’t know. I always knew you were closer because of just…” His shoulders slumped and Poseidon frowned, resisting the urge to stroke his cheek. “Just because of everything, I guess. But just hearing that you…” He blinked rapidly, “that you slept over just kind of...I don’t know. I overreacted.”

“No you didn’t,” Poseidon frowned. “It’s our fault. We didn’t mean to leave you out.”

“Yeah,” Hades said, blatantly reluctant.

Zeus looked at him and an emotion Poseidon couldn’t quite place entered his eyes. It was gone in a flash, but at least Poseidon could tell it was positive. “It’s alright.”

Poseidon wrapped his arms around Zeus’ neck tighter. “I should probably get off your lap now, huh?”

Zeus wrapped his arms around his waist. “You’re warm.”

“Is that your way of saying it’s okay?”

Zeus didn’t respond, instead burying his face in the crook of Poseidon’s neck. Poseidon laughed. 

***Hades’ POV***

Hades was not trying to be possessive. 

He wasn’t trying to be clingy, over-protective, creepy, whatever it is you want to call it. He wasn’t.

But there was that little voice in his head, that little feeling in his gut for the past few days, eating up at him and making him stare at Zeus and Poseidon for longer than he thought was normal. Ever since the night they told Zeus about Hades sleeping over, Poseidon had been noticeably nicer towards Zeus, putting in extra effort to make him seem just as important to the group as the other two. 

Here’s the thing: he didn’t realize he was doing it at the expense of Hades.

Now, for the past few days it had been sort of a fight between the two wolves inside Hades. On one hand, Hades didn’t want to force Poseidon into doing anything or treating him any specific kind of way. It was Poseidon’s choice, and Poseidon didn’t like having people tell him what to do. It was also not Poseidon’s responsibility to be at Hades’ side all the time. On the other hand, Poseidon had been giving Zeus his complete, almost undivided attention, barely giving anyone else a glance (unless he was at the infirmary, of course). Every time Hades tried to get closer to Poseidon as they walked, Zeus would come closer too and Poseidon would go over to him without hesitation. Hades hadn’t even noticed that he and Poseidon walked so close together, but he did notice it when it was gone.

It hadn’t really bothered him at first. If anything, he thought it was nice that Zeus was getting a little more love from Poseidon. Nothing felt better than love from Poseidon. And besides, if Zeus really felt like they didn't love or appreciate him as much, it was good to give him that extra bit of attention to make sure he didn't think that any more. It hadn't really bothered him up until one evening while they were eating supper. Poseidon had almost completely ignored everything he said, barely responding to his input, if at all. That’s when Hades started to doubt it was in hopes of giving Zeus the attention he’d been deprived of, and more about him trying to distance himself from Hades.

They were small changes, but they were noticeable ones. Walking closer to Zeus, leaning on Zeus' shoulder instead of his, only turning his head in Zeus' direction at meal times, smiling at Zeus more than he smiled at Hades. Hades found himself longing to have Poseidon look at him just as much as he did before, just as frequently with as much emotion. He wanted to bring him under his arm, snuggle him, ruffle his hair, tell him how much he loved him…But Poseidon was looking at Zeus, and Zeus only.

Which brought them to where they are now. They were at the dinner table, Hades with spaghetti and Zeus and Poseidon with pancakes. Hades pretended not to judge them, but it was a little difficult. Poseidon had also been doing that recently: copying Zeus in little things. It wasn’t every meal, nor was it extremely noticeable, but whenever Zeus showed any sign of being embarrassed about something Poseidon automatically jumped in and tried to comfort him about it, often times doing the same thing to do so. This time, Zeus joked about how it was weird that he wanted pancakes and Poseidon quickly ordered them himself, making sure Zeus knew that he didn't think it was weird. Now maybe Zeus was different, but to Hades that would be more annoying than comforting. It was still a cute gesture, though. Not that anything Poseidon did nowadays wasn't cute.

The five of them had been talking for the last little bit about places they’ve visited, whether on vacation or on a quest. Except it wasn’t all five of them talking about it, it was Zeus talking to Poseidon and Poseidon leaning close to him, looking at Zeus like he was saying the most fascinating thing in the world. Zeus’ eyes were lit up like a Christmas tree, and Hades had a feeling that was part of the reason Poseidon kept it up. Nico’s eyebrows had been raised the whole time and Hazel pretended not to notice anything, with only the occasional dart of the eyes and drop of “that sounds cool”. Hades tried to intervene a few times, and all Poseidon did was look at him, shoot him a quick smile, and then look back. Hades was glad he even got that. He would die if he couldn’t see Poseidon’s eyes.  _ Okay woah, slow down there buddy. _

Still, it gave him an odd, unpleasant feeling. Not quite like sadness, though that was part of it...it was sadness if it was green instead of blue.

Jealous.

He was jealous.

Like a schoolgirl who’s crush got paired with another girl, he was watching Poseidon interact with Hades with a twisting, tight feeling in his gut. He found himself longing to have Poseidon look at him like that, eyes wide and sparkling, cute little mouth pulled up into a smile. Gods. What had these few months done to him?

“What did you think about the Dominican?” Poseidon asked, eyes alight with excitement. Hades couldn’t tell if it was fake or not. “I love it!”

“Well, I wasn’t the biggest fan of it, but considering you are I might have to change my mind.” Zeus smiled, charming as always.

Poseidon blushed.

Hades stared. He wasn’t the only one. Nico’s eyebrows were practically on top of his head, and he suddenly turned his stare to Hades. Hades wished he hadn’t. Hazel was also silent, and though she had been before, something in the air made it seem like she had just dropped off mid-sentence. Nico’s gaze did not relent, and even got stronger. Hades still did not look over.

“Yeah,” Poseidon said, smile a little shy.

Zeus finally removed his gaze from Poseidon’s face and looked up at the rest of them. His brow quickly furrowed, his smile turning confused. “What’s wrong?”

Poseidon looked away from Zeus too, eyebrows lifting slightly and eyes widening a little bit. Everyone was silent for a moment, before Nico cleared his throat, eyebrows jutting up again. “Nothing, nothing…” he cleared his throat again, but this time Hades thought it was to cover up a laugh. “You two are just…” he did the eyebrow thing again, small smirk on his face, “...close.”

“We were always close,” Poseidon said defensively. His head fell to the side and he frowned lightly. Hades wanted to squish his cheeks. “Well, as of recently.”

“Oh I know, I know.” Nico threw his hands up in a surrender position. “I’m just saying. You two seem to be getting along…real well tonight.”

“Oh, yeah,” Poseidon responded, a sense of shyness creeping back. His smile was as adorable as usual. “I dunno.”

“I was just saying that I would visit again with Poseidon,” Zeus explained. 

“Right,” Nico said. Hades couldn’t tell if it was an agreement or sarcastic.

There was a somewhat awkward silence after that. Everyone went back to their meals, though Nico’s eyes were still trained on Zeus and Poseidon, filled with amusement and a little bit of confusion. Hades kept his eyes on his meal, though his jaw was tight. What caused this sudden shift? Had he been mean to Poseidon without knowing? But even when he was mean to him, Poseidon rarely ever gave him the cold shoulder…

The rest of the meal was spent pretty normally, only a slight shift in the awkwardness when they happened to fall silent. Poseidon still focused almost entirely on Zeus, Zeus still focused almost entirely on Poseidon. Hades was relieved when they got up to go to the campfire to say the least. 

Just as usual nowadays, Poseidon shifted ever so slightly over to Zeus. Hades stared. Poseidon looked at him and he quickly darted his eyes away. 

_ You’re being too possessive.  _

He’d heard that phrase before many times in his life, always from the same person. Blonde-haired, full-cheeked Demeter, ridiculing him every time he brought Persephone back from the Underworld. “Keep her safe,” he’d say. “I do a better job at that than you,” she’d reply. Hades almost sighed just thinking about it.

Just as always, Nico and Hazel parted ways as they reached the bleachers. This time Nico had to pass in front of him, and Hades smiled at the fact he was still so much taller than him. Many of his sons and daughters grew to be tall and strong, and though Nico was strong emotionally, he felt more capable of protecting someone so small. He liked protecting people. Hazel was even smaller, though his need to protect her was not quite as strong. It  _ was _ strong, but he knew his roman equivalent’s need was stronger. He also had a feeling Nico wasn’t going to let too much happen to her. He wondered how Poseidon felt about Percy growing. The boy was not the kind of tall that made you gawk, but he was still growing. He assumed he was proud: Poseidon always used to boast about how strong his sons were. They were two different people, Hades kept on reminding himself. They didn’t have to always see eye to eye.

Maybe this was just a phase.

He was sure it was. Poseidon would go back to being his usual self in a few days, giving Hades and Zeus the same amount of attention and hugging Hades just as much as he used to. It had to be. 

Regardless, they marched up the bleachers to their usual spot and slid behind the Ares kids. There was a noticeable tension in the air as they all sat, the knowledge that Hades was usually the one in the middle on the forefront of their minds. Poseidon looked vaguely guilty. Hades stared forward, Zeus shifting beside him. He hoped this phase would end soon.

“What songs do you think they’ll play?” Poseidon asked. It was not a secret that it was just to ease the tension. He never cared about the songs.

“I don’t know,” Zeus replied. “Probably the usual.”

“If they play Wonderwall one more time I’m gonna kill myself,” Poseidon said, smiling lightly.

That struck Hades a little and his heartbeat picked up, darting his eyes to Poseidon instinctively. He quickly calmed down. It was a joke. He knew it was a joke right off the bat, but something about people who have been previously suicidal making suicide jokes did not sit well with him. He supposed that was probably the case with a lot of people.

“Tell me about it,” Zeus responded.

After that, everything went pretty much as normal. The songs were normal (and unfortunately included Wonderwall) and the conversations were light, again mostly between Zeus and Poseidon. Hades chipped in now and then, but his comments were received with a “that’s cool!” or “okay, nice!” and then they went back to normal. It gave Hades a twisting, familiar feeling in his chest. 

They were starting to go back to how they were. 

Zeus and Poseidon up on cloud nine, Hades cast away to fend for himself. Maybe it wasn’t quite as to the extreme as it was before, but it still stung. Had they forgotten he was still touchy on that? He hoped they hadn’t forgotten. It was hard to forget.

Hades finally started to get really worried about five sixths of the way through the campfire, when Zeus suddenly squished really close to Poseidon and put an arm over his shoulders, leaning in close. Hades’ heart almost stopped, but he tried not to be obvious about it and looked at them out of the corner of his eye. Poseidon’s eyes were wide as they looked at Zeus, but Zeus turned his head to whisper in Poseidon’s ear. Hades let out a small breath. Poseidon seemed to listen intently, then turned to whisper in Zeus’ ear too. Poseidon's eyes reflected the flames of the campfire.

Hades’ chest hollowed and he stared at said fire blankly. He felt Poseidon’s eyes on him, guilt oozing out of his every pore. Hades did not acknowledge it. He wouldn’t acknowledge it until he did something about it.

He didn’t, in fact, do something about it.

Finally, when the campfire reached its end, the three of them stood and filed out with the rest of camp. Hades had been thinking about his two brothers’ exchange the entire rest of the fire, but no conclusion of what it might have been came to mind. At first Hades thought Zeus was going in for a kiss, so he supposed nothing could’ve been much worse than that.

Right?

They approached Zeus’ cabin and Hades watched the two of them out of the corner of his eye. Zeus still had his arm over Poseidon’s shoulders and Poseidon had his eyes closed, leaning his head on Zeus’ shoulder.

They kept on walking.

Hades stopped, staring at them. His brow was furrowed. “Uh...Zeus? Your cabin’s right here.”

They both stopped and turned, Poseidon lifting his head off of Zeus’ shoulder and opening his eyes. Zeus cleared his throat. “Oh, I know.” He shifted. There was a pause for a moment. “We’re going to spend the night at Poseidon’s cabin.”

Hades smiled with confusion. “Oh. I didn’t hear about that?”

Poseidon stared at his shoes and Zeus darted his eyes away, clearing his throat again. “Uh...yeah. That’s because we’re um...we're uh...it's just us.” Another pause. Zeus cleared his throat. "And not...not you."

Hades stared.

Poseidon’s hands fiddled in front of him and Zeus was looking anywhere but at it him, knuckles turning white against Poseidon’s shoulder. There was silence for another while. Zeus finally coughed again and tried to look at Hades. “We thought it would even it out, y’know? You got to spend one night with him, I get to spend one night with him.”

Hades finally found his voice, anger seeping into him. “He’s not a  _ dog. _ This isn’t about who ‘gets’ to have him or spend the night with him. What are you on about?”

“I know, I know!” Zeus said frantically. “We just...Poseidon knows that I was a little, y’know…” he shifted his eyes to the side, “...about you two spending the night without me, so I don’t know. Maybe it’ll just make us even?”

“But me spending the night with Poseidon wasn’t planned,” Hades said desperately, feeling their bond slowly breaking and not knowing what to do. Maybe it was hyperbole, but it didn’t feel like it. 

“Well that doesn’t matter,” Zeus argued, eyes darting everywhere once more, “you still did. We’re not trying to kick you out or anything…”

“You two have been leaving me out enough recently that I believe that not to be the case,” Hades snapped. _This can't be happening, this can't be happening..._

Zeus’ brow furrowed and he snapped his head back. “What do you mean? And also weren’t you the one criticizing me for being too sensitive about you two sleeping over without me?”

“That’s because it wasn’t planned!” Hades said, throwing his hands up. “And what do you mean what do I mean? You know very well how much you’ve been fucking ignoring me!”

“We haven’t been ignoring you,” Poseidon spoke up, finally lifting his head up. There was a little desperation in his voice. “I’ve just been trying to include Zeus more because he feels left out.” He quickly looked up at Zeus. “Obviously that’s not the only reason, I mean.”

Zeus nodded. “Yeah! I never pegged you as a narcissist Hades, but are you starting to think everything always has to be about you?” It was said snarkily and with a fast pace, designed just like a slap in the face.

More of Hades’ chest twisted with that same feeling and he glanced between them desperately. “No, but you have been! Every time I’ve tried to say something you immediately just brush it off and talk to each other! And it’s not just me, Nico noticed it too, remember?”

“Well yeah, but that was just today!” Poseidon said, throwing his arms out. “C’mon Hades, what are you on about?”

Hades looked at Poseidon, almost forgetting how his raised voice sounded. It wasn’t really angry, more a desperate kind of ‘please agree with me’. Hades did not.

But he could no longer think of an argument. He tried to form words and push them out his throat, but they got stuck and refused to move. He glanced between them, shaking his head with his mouth slightly open, but they did not give. His shoulders eventually slumped and he exhaled, giving up. “Fine. Go ahead.”

He walked past them and shook his head, chest constricting and throbbing, almost all of his energy gone. He knew his face must’ve looked depressing right now, but he didn’t care. They obviously didn’t. 

Any anger that was on Poseidon’s face melted away and he grabbed for Hades’ hand as he walked by. "Hades, wait—"

Hades jerked his arm out of the way, shaking his head. He heard footsteps follow after him but they stopped after a quick “Poseidon.” Hades pretended that didn’t hurt more than the inciting incident.

Campers were looking at them strangely, but just as usual they backed away from Hades as he came closer. He only distantly registered it this time, too caught up in his own pity to care. It did make him pity himself a little more, though.

When he entered his cabin, there was a lump in his throat. He locked the door and kicked off his shoes, heading to the bathroom.

“Hey Dad,” Nico mumbled, curled up in a pile of blankets.

“Hello Nico,” he tried to make it sound normal. He hoped he succeeded. “Is Hazel asleep?”

Nico sighed sleepily. “Yeah. She left early again.”

Hades nodded and entered the bathroom, closing the door behind him. He looked in the mirror for a moment, gazing into his own eyes. What did he do wrong?

He shook his head, pushing off the counter and taking care of his business. He washed his hands and stared at his toothbrush, acting like that was the equivalent of brushing his teeth. He opened the bathroom door and closed it quietly, making sure the doorknob was turned so it didn't make a 'click'. Nico had shut off his lamp, making the room pretty much pitch black. Hades tried not to curse, moving slowly around the room as to not run into anything. He kept his arms out in front of him, but unfortunately his toe found the ladder first. He inhaled sharply, swearing under his breath.

Nico grumbled. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Hades replied through gritted teeth. “Just stubbed my toe.”

“Oh, do you need the lamp on? Sorry.” He reached up and flicked the lamp on, immediately bathing the room in warm light. 

Hades didn’t mention anything, but it looked like Nico had gotten thinner. His elbow jutted out and his vein was visibly flexed as he switched it on. Or maybe Hades was just in an extra critical mood right now. “Thanks.”

“Yep.” Nico rested his head back on his pillow, shiny hair floofing around his head. He closed his eyes, smiling in that weird kind of not-smiling-just-content way.

Hades climbed the ladder up to the top bunk, hoping they didn’t wake up Hazel with all the noise. When he was finally up and under the covers, he told Nico he could shut the lights off and he did, the room going dark once more. Hades stared up at the ceiling, wide awake.

How long was this going to continue?

Had Zeus really felt this isolated?

He didn’t have an answer. He thought about what they were doing right now, probably enjoying themselves in front of a movie or...Hades heart dropped and his gut twisted. No. They wouldn’t do that. They were getting closer, but not in that way... 

It still made Hades the ever so slightest bit more awake. The dark ceiling brought him more questions: was he really being selfish? Was he just overthinking this? Was he simply being treated how he deserved to be treated? Had he been treating Zeus this way?

The questions were overwhelming, the amount of unknown frightening. His breathing was steady, but not quite as smooth as Nico’s or Hazel’s. The room was quiet and warm, the ceiling too close to his face for his taste as always. The lump was still in his throat, but it didn’t seem to be going anywhere further. Had they really just given up on him? What could he do to help?

He thought of Poseidon’s face, of Zeus’ raised voice. How they clung together, spoke together, sided together. It was all very familiar. Too familiar. Distant, distant memories clouded Hades’ mind, of sparkling Greek oceans and white togas, Zeus and Poseidon standing tall on Mount Olympus, watching him trek down, down, down. Hades closed his eyes. Perhaps it was already too late. 

***Time Break***

The next morning, Hades did not feel like getting out of bed. 

He knew what would come if he did. Sitting down at the table with his brothers and children, an apologetic look on Poseidon’s face, a guilty one on Zeus’, Nico asking what was wrong, Poseidon explaining, awkwardness, another apology, then Zeus and Poseidon doing the same thing they had been. Hades shook his head. He didn’t want to deal with it. Why did he always have to deal with it?

As always, he was awake before his children, but this time he didn’t get up to get ready like usual. He stared at the ceiling, now visible with the first morning rays seeping in through the window. Could he avoid them? But Nico would ask what was wrong. He could say he was sick. But then Nico would take him to the infirmary…

He didn’t know what to do. Could he just simply avoid them in inconspicuous ways? But how? Did they want that?

That one felt like a punch.

_ Did they want that? _

It’s what they wanted last time. It’s what they wanted for thousands of years.

He continued to stare at the ceiling, watching it slowly get brighter and brighter. Slowly, he heard Nico’s breathing get lighter, and he closed his eyes. He didn’t have to deal with any questions if Nico thought he was still asleep. He took deep, slow breaths while he was at it, just to sell the part. Nico let out a little moan as he woke up, smacking his lips together a few times. Hades continued to breathe steadily, and after a moment the bed creaked as Nico sat up. There was silence for a moment as Hades felt Nico’s stare on him, but not long after Nico stood. He heard the bathroom door open and close, but he still did not open his eyes.

He could “oversleep”, he supposed. And then go right to Chiron because he had “run late”. He wouldn’t have to eat breakfast, and if he was too hungry then Chiron still had those sandwiches. He internally nodded. 

The door to the bathroom opened again and he focused on steady breathing once more. Nico’s stare was on him again, but not for quite as long. Nico walked down the middle of the cabin and the ruffle of fabric told Hades he was changing. Half of him wanted to look to make sure he wasn’t getting too thin, but that would a) give away his facade and b) probably be a little creepy. He called it fatherly protectiveness, Nico called it nosiness. Besides, he didn’t want to push Nico any farther away from him than he already had.

It was a kind-of-mild fight, the one they had. They were pretty much over it now, but a little tension still lingered in the air. It was over Will. Hades had very awkwardly and very dreadfully sat down with Nico, going over his rules regarding...fun times. He wasn’t used to doing it, let alone with a homosexual son, and every time he brought up the word “boyfriend” or “boy” in general he saw Nico die a little more on the inside. He hoped it was just embarrassment and he wasn’t ashamed, but Hades felt the awkwardness a little bit too. He shouldn’t have: the Greeks were as gay as Elton John, but something about talking about it with someone who grew up in a homophobic time made it awkward for him, too. He remembered Nico being upset when Percy accidentally outed him, but they had talked over that. It was probably just embarrassment now, which was understandable. Regardless of that, Nico had gotten pissed when Hades told him that he couldn’t hang out with Will alone in their cabin, even if he was spending the night at Poseidon’s (that made him suppress a bitter smile) or Hazel was at Camp Jupiter. Nico asked him why it was okay for him to be alone with Poseidon and not for him to be alone with Will, to which Hades kindly explained that Will and Nico were in a relationship, he and Poseidon were not. Still, it had snowballed into a very large argument consisting of him accidentally telling Nico that Bianca would be ashamed of him and Nico telling him that Poseidon had been more of a caring father figure to him than Hades ever had.

Basically, it wasn’t a very fun night for either party.

They had apologized, hugged, yada yada. It wasn’t quite the knick knack paddywhack and done apology like it was with Poseidon, Nico was still stubborn and held onto his anger a lot easier than Poseidon did. But it got better.

That made Hades stop and think for a second. 

Something was off about that sentence. Usually Poseidon was equally as, if not more petty and grudge-y than Nico, but now it seemed like he forgave them almost instantly. Hades’ brow furrowed. What had changed? It wasn't necessarily bad, but still. It's kind of big thing to just suddenly...change. He was always a little more sensitive than his brothers, but he at least held onto anger more...now he just held onto sadness. Hades resisted the urge to hum. It must’ve been gradual or something. He had noticed the enhanced sensitivity, but not the lack of grudge until now. Interesting.

Well, i t might not matter now anyway, right? Poseidon didn’t even want him around to have the  _ chance  _ of accidentally saying something bad. Poseidon would have nothing to hold a grudge against him for. Hades exhaled a little more strongly than he assumed most unconscious people did.  Thankfully, Nico was already practically out the door and didn’t take too much notice. 

Hades went back to breathing normally and waited for the morning to pass.

***Time Break***

He had only deemed himself safe a long, long while after Hazel left, keeping himself busy with making the beds and putting extra time into getting ready. He had put his hair in a half-up ponytail today, not bothering to cut it instead. Persephone always cut his hair and when she was gone he went to a mortal barber, he had no idea how to do it himself. His hair was one of the best parts about himself (in his opinion) and he didn’t feel like messing it up. He had used one of Hazel’s elastics, but he hoped she wouldn’t notice. He’d just use this one.

He acted like he was in a rush after the clock struck 10, slamming out of the cabin and jogging towards the big house to sell the part. He made sure to keep his pace steady as he passed the dining pavilion, making his face stressed just in case Poseidon or Zeus was still there. Poseidon  _ and  _ Zeus, he corrected himself. They were a duo now.

***Time Break***

“Um, I think I’ll eat lunch in here, actually,” Hades said, forcing a smile. “I don’t want to lose my train of thought.”

Chiron’s eyebrows raised, a curious look entering his eyes. “Oh, of course. Do you mind if Dionysus and I go?”

Dionysus was already out the front door of the Big House. Hades glanced at him and then looked back at Chiron, smile still on his face. “No, of course not. Go ahead.”

Chiron nodded, and Hades watched his tail swing back and forth as he exited the Big House.

***Time Break***

Hades watched Chiron and Dionysus head towards the dining pavilion silently, pace slow and reluctant. What was he going to do now? Could he miss supper? He had already missed breakfast and somewhat-missed lunch, and Chiron said he couldn’t skip more than one meal…

Hades spotted Zeus and Poseidon sitting so close they were practically glued together. He turned left and made a wide arch around the dining pavilion. He was sure Chiron wouldn’t mind.

***Time Break***

He did that for two more days. 

Nico had been asking him almost nonstop questions, what looked as close to genuine concern as Nico di Angelo could get in his eyes. He brushed him off, telling him that Chiron, Dionysus and him were working on a really interesting topic that he always got way too absorbed in. When asked why he didn’t eat supper, a simple “Chiron makes me eat his sandwiches. Ask Poseidon, he’ll tell you” did the trick. Chiron himself had asked if anything was wrong, to which Hades responded with a simple “no, everything’s fine. I’m just used to isolation, I need a break from people for a while. Poseidon and Zeus know. It’s fine.” Chiron had looked at him with sharp eyes, but eventually relented and nodded.

That was, until, Poseidon slammed into the Hades cabin, tears in his eyes, Zeus’ hoodie on, mouth quivering.

Nico immediately shot off the bed while Hazel just sat up quickly and Hades stared at him blankly. 

“What’s wrong?” Nico asked, eyes panicked. “Are you in danger?” He reached for his sword.

Poseidon shook his head. “No. I just need to talk to Hades.” He didn’t even look at Nico, teary eyes firmly on Hades.

Nico paused, and then slowly looked between them. Realization entered his eyes and they turned soft—well, Nico-soft—as they turned to Poseidon. “Oh...do you want us to leave?”

“Hazel was almost asleep, we should let her rest,” Hades said cooly.  _ Why are you doing this? You want to make up with, him don’t you?  _ “You can talk with me tomorrow.”  _ Pride. _

Poseidon’s shoulders slumped and his eyes turned desperate. “Hades please...We can go to my cabin.”

“Isn’t Zeus there?” He almost smiled. He forgot how good it felt to be petty.

He also forgot how bad it felt to see Poseidon’s face crumple. “Hades, please.” It was light and high-pitched, like he was going to cry and just barely holding back. Hades swallowed.

Nico whipped around and glared at him. Hades was mildly impressed: his glare was pretty good. He clenched his jaw and looked between them, weighing his options. On one hand, go with Poseidon, and on the other, deal with Nico and Hazel asking him a bunch of questions or just calling him an asshole.

He sighed. “Fine.” He swung his legs over the side of the bed. “Nico, turn on the light.”

“Please,” Nico reminded him with a roll of his eyes. Nonetheless, he switched it on.

Hades climbed down the ladder and threw on a hoodie, then looked at Poseidon and sighed. “Let’s go.”

Poseidon nodded quickly and turned, walking off the small porch of the Hades cabin. Hades followed and Nico gave him a look before closing the door.

The night was cold, air a little damp and crickets squeaking everywhere. The grass was dewy and brushed up against his ankles where there was a space between his shoes and his pants. Poseidon was already a little ahead of him, but waited for him with a pitiful expression on his face. Zeus’ hoodie was huge on him, about the same size as Hades’ would be. Zeus was shorter than him, but more built. 6’0 wasn’t that short either, being fair. Poseidon didn’t quite drown in it, but he was getting there. He was just too goddamn skinny.

They were silent for the whole walk there. Hades saw harpies out of the corner of his eye, but they did not dare come near them. Or, they didn’t dare come near Hades, at least. Hades could tell Poseidon was itching to say something, but they both still remained in silence. Poseidon’s hair shone in the moonlight, fluffier than normal. He must’ve taken a shower today. Hades looked firmly ahead, making sure his expression was still cool.

When they entered the Poseidon cabin, Zeus was, in fact, in there. Hades stared at him, making his expression even colder than it had been. Poseidon shut the door behind them, locking it immediately. 

As soon as it clicked, they all fell into deathly silence. Hades stared at the both of them, having so sympathy for their lack of knowledge of where to start. It was only breathing for another moment, before Poseidon flung himself at Hades, wrapping his arms around his neck and burying his face in his shoulder.

Hades clenched his jaw, resisting the overwhelming urge to hug Poseidon back. He felt tears on his neck and swallowed.  _ Don’t give in, don’t give in. _ “I’m sorry,” Poseidon said, voice breaking. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry. We didn’t mean to leave you out. We didn’t mean to...to…” he let out a sob that wasn’t really a sob, more of a falter of breath, “to be mean to you.”

“But you did,” Hades replied.  _ Hug him, hug him, hug him. No, no, no. _

“I know,” Poseidon said, doing that same sob-thing again. “I know. I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry too,” Zeus said, for once not seeming reluctant. A little embarrassed, but not reluctant. “I complained about you two leaving me out and then did the same to you. I’m sorry.”

Hades glared at him calculatingly and Zeus took it in stride, never breaking eye contact. His eyes seemed genuine and guilty. Hades clenched his jaw again and broke eye contact, leaning his head close to Poseidon and wrapping his arms around him. Poseidon collapsed completely against him, squeezing so tight Hades could barely breathe.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I haven’t seen you in so long, I feel so bad. I just…” he did it again, “I just thought about how—” he sniffed, “—how we’ve been treating you and I realized how bad it was.”

“It’s okay,” Hades said softly, bringing one hand up to the back of Poseidon’s head. “It’s alright. Calm down.”

Poseidon relented the strength of his squeeze a little bit, but did not let go. He was still crying a little bit, but not quite at his usual intensity. Hades shushed him and rocked him back and forth, closing his eyes. Poseidon’s hair was soft as silk, running through his fingers like water. He calmed down eventually and Hades stopped rocking him. Zeus had been looking at them the whole time, eyes guarded. Hades made eye contact again and then jerked his head. “C'mere.”

Zeus smiled microscopically and pushed himself off the floor. Poseidon turned to look at him and let go of Hades with one arm, throwing it open to leave room for Zeus. Zeus let out a little laugh and joined in on their hug, and they all closed back in together. Hades hugged his two brothers, relishing in their warmth. It felt good, being reunited again. It had only been mere moments ago, but now Hades could not fathom ever wanting to put up a fight against this. They ended up forming a Poseidon sandwich kind-of-thing, where Hades and Zeus were still technically hugging but more just tangling their arms together because they were both hugging Poseidon.

They stayed like that for quite a while, before Poseidon finally broke off. Well—broke off as much as one could while being sandwiched by two people. “Let’s go to bed, I’m sleepy.”

Hades could tell. His voice was quiet and raspy, already halfway through yawn by the end of the last word. Hades thought it was cute. Poseidon dragged them both over to the bed, plopping down on it. “Come down here with me.”

Hades’ heart fluttered a little, but he put on an amused expression, cocking one eyebrow up. “You want to cuddle?”

“Yep.”

The bluntness of it made Hades laugh. Zeus did too, and Hades wasted no time kicking off his shoes and laying next to Poseidon on the outside of the bed. Poseidon immediately gave him more room and then moved closer once he was secure, burying his face in his chest. It tickled and Hades’ heart picked up a bit more, though he didn’t know why. He had cuddled with Poseidon many times before. Regardless, Zeus took Poseidon’s shoes off, making Poseidon laugh and thank him. It gave Hades a weird feeling. The act was oddly, well...he wasn’t going to say it, but it was familiar. He didn’t take it to heart too much and smiled, leaning his head back on the pillow. Zeus quickly joined them and got on Poseidon’s other side, throwing the corner of the blanket up so he could get underneath.

“Oh yeah,” Poseidon said, sitting up. He moved back so he was sitting on the pillows and jerked his head at Hades. “Get up, we have to move the covers back.”

Hades got up and threw the corner of the blanket back just as Zeus did moments prior, waiting for Poseidon to get underneath it before he did himself.

When he did, he switched off the lamp on Poseidon’s bedside table and then settled into his (and Poseidon’s) pillow. Poseidon snuggled close to him again and Zeus went on to his side so he was somewhat-spooning Poseidon. Neither Hades nor Poseidon mentioned it: they knew how hard it was for him to give physical affection, mocking him wouldn’t help. Hades looked down at Poseidon, smiling. It terrified him, slightly, that he had almost refused to go with him. There wouldn't have even been a point to it: it was an easy fix, a quick apology and then everything went back to normal. That’s how it always was. He should’ve known.

It only took a few minutes for Zeus to drift off to sleep, and Hades thought Poseidon was gone too, before he looked up at him. Hades almost jumped, but managed to conceal his surprise last minute. Poseidon’s eyes were sleepy, and when he blinked it looked like it was heavily. “Why ‘you lookin’ at me?” he slurred, smiling dorkily.

Hades’ cheeks warmed and his heart went all funny again at the closeness of their faces. But he smiled calmly, gazing at Poseidon with fondness. “Because you’re as cute as a button.”

Poseidon snickered quietly and looked down, cheeks colouring. Hades thought it was pretty. “Shut up.”

Hades smiled. Poseidon looked back up at him after a moment, eyes filled with love. Hades’ heart pounded and his stomach flipped. They stared at each other for a moment. Poseidon’s face was beautiful. It used to be handsome, all masculine angles and hard lines, but now it was soft and boyish, full and glowy. Hades glanced down at his lips. They were full, just as they always had been, a dark pinky-red colour, almost with a purple hue. He wanted to kiss them.

Hades froze.

Poseidon sighed and closed his eyes, pushing his face back into Hades’ chest. Hades was acutely aware of the pressure, of Poseidon’s lips pressed into his pec. His hair tickled the underside of Hades’ chin, all soft and fluffy, just how it looked. Hades’ heart pounded. His eyes were wide open.

Oh my gods.

He liked Poseidon. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA  
> also hades what cheeks do you want to squish,,,,,,,  
> anyway how have y'all been????? I'm so sorry again for the delay!!! And thanks again for reading!!!! (also sorry if this chapter wasn't the best khsfkhj, it should be better next time!)  
> Oh and also what do you want the next chapter to be??  
> Xx


	13. head hurty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> poseidon has a doctors appointment with Will and hades is Stressed Out TM  
> Also TW: mentions of eating disorders, torture and assault

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Btw this is officially going to be Zeus/Poseidon/Hades!!!!!! It may seem like just Hades/Poseidon right now but trust me give it time. Also this update isn't too late so!!! That's good!! I hope you enjoy!!!!

_**Previously on 'Really? Again? My poor salad': "Oh my gods. He liked Poseidon."** _

When Poseidon entered the infirmary, Will was opening the curtains as always, letting early morning light spill into the room. The boy in question turned to them with a smile on his face, under eyes a little darker than usual. Clara looked up and shot them a smile, but quickly returned to her conversation with Emily. John walked in right behind Poesidon, putting one hand on his shoulder. They had gotten somewhat closer in the time Poseidon had worked at the infirmary, but they weren’t close by any means. John just seemed to take a liking to physical contact. Poseidon didn’t mind too much, so long as frequent hugs weren’t a thing.

“Good morning you two, how are you?” Will asked, stepping off the bed he was leaning on to open the curtains.

“Good, thanks,” Poseidon replied lightly, folding his hands in front of him and walking a little away from the door. “I slept in this morning, so I just grabbed breakfast.” Speaking of, he took a bite of his halfway-eaten muffin. He smiled. Blueberry. He’d always loved blueberries.

Will gave him a stern look that was dimmed down by a fond smile. His hair looked like it hadn’t been brushed in days, but it looked fine yesterday so Poseidon assumed he was just a floppy sleeper. “You need more than a blueberry muffin for breakfast, Poseidon. There’s hardly any nutritional value in that.”

“But it’s food!” Poseidon argued lightly, taking another bite. His smile had grown wider.

Will scrunched his nose a little like Sally used to do when she saw a cute dog. Poseidon pretended it didn’t hurt his masculinity a little bit. “Yes, but there’s better food. Wake up earlier next time. What made you sleep in so late?”

John walked off to rip the list off the wall, but Poseidon didn’t follow him quite yet. His cheeks warmed.  _ I, god of the sea, was nice and warm cuddled between the god of death and king of the gods on a queen-sized bed for the whole night. Because of this, I woke up in that same position and did not want to leave. In fact, I did not leave until Hades shot out of bed like someone barged in crying bloody murder and screamed about how late he was.  _ Yeah, that probably wasn’t the best idea. “I dunno, I just haven’t been able to sleep recently.” Now that wasn’t necessarily a lie: he  _ had  _ been having a little bit of a rough time getting to sleep ever since the quest ended. When Hades and Zeus were there it was fine, so Poseidon didn’t know what was up.

“Oh, yeah, you told me about that,” Will said, frowning. “Do you know why?”

Poseidon shook his head, but then smiled lightly. “No, but you don’t look like you’re getting a good eight hours either.”

Will laughed a little. “Yeah, that’s fair. But I’ve been working on a lot of projects. So you don’t know why you can’t get to sleep?” He frowned. “Do you want me to try and see what’s going on? I don’t have any appointments today.”

Poseidon smiled awkwardly. He’d actually quite like that, but he was also scared that he might bring up last night again. He was also well rested now, so it might seem like he was faking it.  _ Oh, fuck it. You don’t want to be up until one again, do you? _ “Oh, are you sure?”

Will smiled and nodded. “Yeah, of course. Let me just get my notepad real quick.”

“Oh, sure, thanks,” Poseidon replied with his eyebrows raised a little, sitting down on the end of a hospital bed. He forgot how nice people were sometimes. Especially Will. Will was a nice dude. Nico was probably pretty happy. Poseidon was happy for him.

Will entered his office and left Poseidon on his own. Jonathan looked at him strangely as he entered the supply room and Poseidon felt vaguely guilty. There was a lot to handle in there, especially on your own. He and Jonathon had bonded somewhat over their shared struggle with the list, so at least there wasn’t as much of an awkward tension whenever they were around each other. Poseidon wouldn’t say he necessarily considered John a friend, but he was at least an acquaintance by now. 

When the door of the supply room shut he was left in silence, awkwardly swinging his legs off the end of the bed. He found himself longing to be back in bed with Zeus and Hades, under the warm covers with four different arms around him. He smiled thinking about it, resisting the urge to let his eyes close. He always slept better when he was with someone. Specifically after he’d slept  _ with  _ someone, but he didn’t think he, Hades and Zeus would be doing that any time soon. He blushed.

After another moment, Will came out of his office and shot him a smile. “Hey, sorry for the wait. I’m back.”

Poseidon smiled at him. “Hey, no problem.” He stopped swinging his legs.

Will pulled up a chair and sat down next to him, clipboard and pen in hand. Poseidon thought it was a little funny: he’d never had a doctor's appointment in his life, and now he was getting one for the first time by his nephew’s son. It looked just like how it did in the movies, except instead of scrubs underneath Will’s doctor coat (Poseidon didn’t actually know what it was called) it was just a Camp Half Blood t-shirt and khaki shorts. Poseidon quite liked his shorts: they looked just like his. Well —he didn’t have them now, but he used to before he got thrown into the mortal world. 

Will didn’t seem to take notice of his admiration for his shorts and looked up with a smile on his face. “So, you’ve been having trouble sleeping. Is that because you can’t bring yourself to get on a proper schedule or can you just simply not get to sleep?”

Poseidon picked at the blankets beside him. It was a little awkward: he never liked being asked questions, unless they were about his son or the ocean. “I just can’t sleep,” he replied. “I try to go to bed at ten-thirty ish but I can never get to sleep until one or one-thirty.”

Will frowned lightly and marked that on his clipboard. “Alright. So that’s a two-and-a-half hour difference, that’s pretty significant. What do you think about during that time?”

Poseidon blushed. Most of the time he thought of nothing, but when he did...He cleared his throat. “Nothing, usually. Just try to get to sleep.”

Will nodded and marked that down. “Alright. When you do get to sleep is it troubled or disturbed?”

Poseidon shook his head, frowning. “I mean, sometimes, but not really frequently.” He paused. “I get dreams sometimes.”

“What kind of dreams?” Will asked, looking up from his notepad for the first time in a while.

Poseidon swallowed. The infirmary was brightening with each second, with warm, golden light highlighting the white walls and floors. Sunlight heated the back of his head and he knew it would be hot to the touch within the next few minutes. It was one of the curses of dark hair, especially really dark hair. He fiddled with the bed sheets. “Just…” he glanced over at Clara and Emma, chewing on his lip a little bit. He lowered his voice, “...flashbacks, I guess. From Chaos and stuff.” They weren’t very often, but he did get little snippets of that cold, dark cave, blood dripping down his concave stomach and wrists burning from rope while his shoulders burned from his suspension. Multi-coloured eyes, white blond hair, that cool, small smile. Hands where he didn’t want them to be. It made him shiver. 

Poorly concealed sympathy entered Will’s eyes. “Oh, I see.” He scribbled down a long paragraph, making Poseidon think that something had shifted in his thought process. “What exactly do you see in these dreams?”

Poseidon looked away, biting the inside of his cheek. He should’ve seen that question coming: he wouldn’t have mentioned it if he had known. “I got kidnapped on the quest,” he explained eventually. “By Chaos. I was suspended in this...cave thing underground. He…” his throat blocked off a little bit and he saw Will’s hand instinctively reach out but then pull back. He cleared his throat. “He...cut me...a little bit. And…” he trailed off.

Will looked at him with narrowed, but concerned eyes. “And…?”

Poseidon smacked his feet together. “Got really close to me sometimes.”

It took a moment, but Will seemed to realize what he meant and took a little inhale, nodding his head. “Oh, okay. Alright.” His voice was soft and he scribbled down more things.

For some reason, Poseidon found that hard to admit and bit his lip to stop himself from tearing up. He continued to kick his feet together, knees bouncing. 

Will cleared his throat. “Are you always tired during the day?”

Poseidon was grateful for the topic change. He nodded, cracking his knuckles. The back of his neck was starting to sweat. “Not always, but a lot, yeah. I’m fine once I get going but generally I’m pretty tired.”

Will nodded. “And what about your eating habits, are they alright? Do you eat a lot at the campfire or for supper?”

Poseidon blushed a little bit. “Uh...They’re a little weird, I guess.”

Will raised an eyebrow. “Oh? How so?”

Poseidon shrugged, trying to brush off his discomfort with a smile. “I don’t know...I don’t eat as much as I used to.”

Will frowned. “As much as you used to when you were a god…?”

Poseidon frowned as well, brows furrowing. Now that he thought about it, his eating habits at the start were pretty normal, maybe just a little decreased… “No...more like...before the quest, I guess.” He frowned, racking his brain for information and trying to get his timeline straight. “Yeah. Like it was a little decreased at first, but then after the quest it dropped off a lot.”

Will’s frown deepened. “Hm...Can you pinpoint an exact time where that happened or was it a slow or general process?”

Poseidon thought harder, but everything was just one big blur. He remembered eating at McDonald’s with Zeus and Hades...he had ordered a ten pack when he usually got a twenty, but he had also eaten the extra fries Hades got him so that didn’t count...He frowned. He had also eaten all the food Zeus and Hades cooked while they were in the condo… “I can’t remember, sorry. I guess it just really only happened after the quest. I mean, my appetite did slightly go down as soon as I got turned into a mortal, but so did the other two’s. And they eat normally now when I don’t.”

His last statement seemed to be important to Will and he nodded, brow furrowed ever so slightly. “Alright. And I know you don’t like this question, but…” he leaned in and darted his eyes over to Emma and Clara, lowering his voice. He looked back at Poseidon after he was sure they were invested in their own conversation. “You’re sure it’s not an eating disorder of any kind, right? I know it might be hard, but you can tell me if it is. We get a lot more male eating disorder cases than you might think.”

Poseidon blushed. “No. I don’t have any body iss—” Well, now that was just a lie. He cleared his throat and restarted. “I...no.”  _ Wow, great english. _

“And you know that for sure?” Will pressed lightly. “I don’t mean to pressure you, but that can change any kind of diagnosis I make. You don’t have to lie to me, you know I won’t tell anyone anything. I’m not legally allowed to.”

Poseidon fiddled with his hands. “I...I don’t like…” he trailed off, and Will gave him one of the most encouraging looks he’d ever received. It almost made him tear up. “I don’t like the way I look,” he mumbled. “But that doesn’t lead to an eating disorder for me.”

Will frowned lightly. “But is it related to your body? Sometimes it can be subconscious, or at least so rejected by the part of your brain that’s telling you to be strong that you refuse to believe you have it. I’m not trying to convince you that you do have one, I just need to make sure this is all clear, alright?” His voice was still low and gentle.

“Yeah, I know.” He paused, staring at his hands. He had never opened up to anyone about his body issues, not even Hades. “It’s...It’s related to my body, but...if it were to be an eating disorder, I would be eating too much instead of too little, if you know what I mean.” There was a definite silence between them after he said it, and it felt like he had just leaked the password to hack into the pentagon. His entire pride just crashed to the floor, shattering everywhere and all over any chance of him being seen as strong.

It took Will a moment before realization entered his eyes. “Oh, alright. Thank you for telling me.” He nodded and softly leaned back.

Poseidon blinked tears out of his eyes, trying to dislodge the lump in his throat by swallowing. It didn’t work, but it did lighten it a little bit. He wasn’t as embarrassed as he thought he’d be, but regret did fill up every pore of him. Will didn’t seem to react negatively, and in fact he was just writing on his clipboard just like any other question he answered. It made Poseidon calm down a little bit.

“Would you like to make any appointments to talk about that in the future?”

Poseidon shook his head vigorously. “No thanks.”

Will nodded and marked a little x on his paper and then looked up. “Alright. Do you think...Do you think that you going to sleep causes a little fear that you may be…” he darted his eyes around and lowered his voice again “—vulnerable?”

Poseidon stared. “Vulnerable? Why?”

Will shifted. “That you may be kidnapped again...or, y’know, worse.”

Poseidon looked away, fiddling with his hands again. “Oh, no. Nothing like that.” Will scribbled more stuff on his paper and Poseidon bit his lip. He didn’t want him to be too caught up on that… “He didn’t actually do it,” he said quietly.

“Pardon me?”

Poseidon cleared his throat awkwardly. “He didn’t actually do it.” He paused and lowered his voice further. “Assault me, I mean. He...he got really close to me a lot. And...and at the end he…” he broke off and cleared his throat. “He got close to actually doing it. He...he unzipped my pants and stuff.” He was merely mumbling by the end, but he knew Will caught every word of it. Just the memory of it brought shivers down his spine. He swallowed back tears. “But he didn’t actually do it.”

“Oh, okay,” Will replied. They were some of the softest words Poseidon had ever heard, both in volume and in tone. “Thank you for telling me.”

Poseidon nodded, still not looking over at him.

“Is that what you see when you have your dreams?” Will asked, voice not quite as quiet but every amount as soft.

Poseidon looked ahead. “Sometimes. But he also...cut me a lot. I see that mostly.”

“Cut you?”

“Tortured me.”

“Oh.”

Poseidon stared down at his hands. 

Will inhaled a little bit and then scribbled more things down. “Did you face any serious injuries from that?”

Poseidon admired his fingernails like they were the most fascinating thing in the world. They had gotten kind of long and a little dirty. He should probably clean them soon. “I faced pretty bad bleeding and passed out from blood loss one time. He also banged my head really hard against the wall of the cave once, I passed out from that too.”

That seemed to pique Will’s interest. “Oh? How hard was it would you say, on a scale of one to ten?”

Poseidon debated for a moment, looking up at the ceiling. “Eh...probably nine or ten if I’m going to be honest.”  _ You should stop being honest. Have you done anything but complain this whole time?  _ He tried to ignore the voice in his head. “It was...it was pretty bad.”

Will scribbled vigorously on his paper and Poseidon couldn’t help but think that was some sort of significant thing needed to diagnose him with “this bitch needs some help”. “Alright…now have you been having trouble focusing or remembering things?” Will asked, the caring look still in his eyes but a little bit more of his professionalism creeping back. 

Poseidon thought over the last few weeks. “Uh...yeah, I guess.” He racked his brain for examples, but couldn’t find anything. “Just like right now, I can’t remember any times I didn’t remember something.” He let out a little laugh and Will did too. He thought some more, but his brain was getting a little too mad at him and he came up short. “I also can’t remember the quest really clearly, especially what happened after I got kidnapped…”

Once again, Will wrote on his paper like if he didn’t write something quick enough the world would explode. “Alright, alright…” He looked back up at Poseidon after a moment. “Have you been having any trouble with balance?”

“A little bit,” Poseidon said, thinking back to capture the flag. He had almost fallen quite a lot in that game.  _ Yeah, that’s because you’re short, not because of anything else.  _ Oh shit. Well, whatever. Maybe it was still relevant?

Yet again, Will scribbled more stuff on his paper. “Alright...and you said that you just try to fall asleep and don’t think of anything else?”

Poseidon flushed again, debating his next words. Should he lie or save his dignity? He didn’t feel like lying to your doctor was the smartest move, but also did he really want to admit that he thought of sexual fantasies to a 15 year old? No. “Yeah, I just try to get to sleep.”

Will nodded. “Well...I think I might have come to some sort of conclusion here,” he said, brow furrowing. “I think you might have suffered a concussion when he banged your head against the cave. Insomnia, lack of appetite, lack of concentration, mild memory loss or difficulty…I didn’t make the connection until you mentioned it.”

Poseidon’s brow furrowed. “But that was like...forever ago. Wouldn’t it be healed by now?”

“Not unless you rested properly after you first got it,” Will replied, standing up. “In fact, it can get worse the longer you go without it being treated. I would say it could’ve just been a light one because you’re still able to function, but the fact you don’t remember anything after it happened and the list of symptoms...I don’t know. It could just be that your body got a little bit of the rest it needed, just not quite enough. I have a feeling that part of the eating could also be trauma, but the concussion could be playing into it.”

Poseidon stared ahead. “Oh.” Well, fuck. He still had his doubts, but he supposed giving it a shot wouldn't harm anyone. He relaxed back into his bedsheets. The ceiling was just as white as the rest of the room, except it was textured and slightly dirty. The sun made it look a creamy yellow shade, but Poseidon knew it looked just like a normal white throughout the day. 

Will walked into his office and remerged mere seconds later, a new note in his hand. “There’s no way to treat a concussion unfortunately, but I’ll write you a note that says bed rest for four days, alright? It’s usually two, but as you’ve had it for so long I think you might need a little more.”

“Wait, hold on,” Poseidon replied, holding a hand up. “Aren’t you gonna run any tests or anything to make sure I actually have one?”

Will smiled a little bit. “Unfortunately no, you need an MRI machine for that and we don’t have one here. For now we’ll call it a concussion, but if you find that the bedrest doesn’t help then we’ll investigate further. Does that sound okay?”

Poseidon debated for a second, but then reluctantly nodded. He supposed Will knew more about that kind of stuff than he did. “Does that mean I literally can’t get out of bed at all for four days?”

Will sat back in his chair. “Well, you can go for walks. I’d try to limit it to one walk a day if you want the best and quickest results, though. Your meals should be brought to you, because we don’t need you around all that noise in the dining pavilion. I’d steer clear of any form of reading or television: basically anything that requires the brain to engage. And the flashing lights of the TV are not ideal.”

Poseidon stared at him in horror. “So what  _ can  _ I do?”

“Unfortunately not a whole lot,” Will admitted, laughing a little bit. “I’d suggest having a friend over of some sorts. Perhaps you could invite Hades and Zeus over for the afternoons or something. Do you have anyone else that you like to hang out with?”

Poseidon looked away. His cheeks burned as he felt Will’s eyes on him, waiting for an answer. He was reluctant to give it. “No…” It was mumbled. 

Will nodded slightly. “Oh, okay. Well I might send Nico over, or Hazel. I might pop by as well to see how you’re doing and check in on you. Does that sound alright?” Poseidon nodded. Will smiled and handed him the note. “Alright then —” he stood, “—I’m gonna send you home then. And make sure you stick to the rules!” He pointed a finger at him. “This process will be a lot longer if you choose to not listen to me.”

Poseidon let out a little laugh and put his hands up in surrender. “Alright, alright. So I’m starting the four days now?”

Will nodded. “Yes. We’ll see how you feel at the end of it and decide if you need any longer. Does that sound good?”

“No, but alright.” Poseidon stood himself.

Will laughed. 

Poseidon walked by him and gave him a small, forced smile. Will gave an encouraging nod and patted his shoulder. “Oh! And one more thing.”

Poseidon stopped and looked back at him, eyebrows slightly raised.

Will’s smile turned a little sympathetic. “For two hours a day I’d like you to do absolutely nothing, including no fiddling with hands or daydreaming. Nothing that can stimulate the brain. Your cabin should be as dark as possible at all times, but especially during those two hours.”

Poseidon stared at Will with horror. “Two hours of doing  _ nothing? _ ”

Will gave him another sympathetic smile. “I’m sorry.”

“Not even fiddling  _ hands? _ ”

Will shrugged and let out a little laugh. “Yeah, none of that. I’m sorry again.”

Poseidon stood with his hands out in front of him like Will just told him he had to perform a ballet in three hours. He spluttered and Will just looked at him with growing amusement that he was trying (and failing) to cover up. After another moment, an amused smile finally broke out on his face and he shooed Poseidon out. “Oh, hush. It’s not that bad. Now go. And if I hear that you’ve been breaking the rules, I’ll come over there and take away your TV myself.”

Poseidon walked as Will pushed his back, eyes still wide with horror. “Two hours...”

Will gave him one final shove and Poseidon entered the Supply room, dread clinging to his gut. Four days? Of doing absolutely nothing? And two hours every day? Of _literally_ doing nothing? He could handle four days of just watching TV—but _nothing?_

John’s head shot up at his arrival and he raised an eyebrow. “Are you done now?”

“Yeah, but I have to go back to my cabin,” Poseidon replied, mumbling. “Will says I have a concussion and have to be on bedrest for four days.”

John got a really defeated slump to his shoulders, looking down at the list with dread. He looked back up after a moment. “Four days?”

Poseidon nodded, just as miserable as John looked. “Yep. Of doing absolutely nothing. Doesn’t it sound fun?”

As he walked by John let out a little snort. “Yeah. But how do you have a concussion? You seem fine? Did you just get it?”

Poseidon turned around to talk to him. “No, Will thinks I got it weeks ago and just haven’t given it time to heal. My appetite is all messed up as well as my sleep and memory and stuff. We’re going to try me resting for four days and see if that helps with anything. If it doesn’t I think we’re going to examine further or something.”

John didn’t show any sign of response for a few moments, before giving a reluctant nod. “Oh, okay.” He placed a hand on Poseidon’s shoulder, close up to his neck. Poseidon could feel the coldness of his fingers against his throat. His fingers were big. “I hope you feel better, man. Sorry to hear about it.”

A little heat rose to Poseidon’s cheeks and he nodded. “Thanks.”

John removed his hand with a nod. Poseidon nodded back and turned, hurrying out.

“Oh, wait!” John called.

He stopped and turned.

“I need to escort you out.” He placed the list down and half-jogged up to Poseidon. 

Poseidon forced a smile. “Oh, right. Yeah. That wouldn’t’ve been good.”

John laughed lightly, obviously a little forced as well. “Yeah.”

They exited the infirmary and trekked out onto the walkway. When it got to the narrow part, John placed his hand back on Poseidon’s shoulder and walked behind him. His hand was almost the size of it, covering from midway down his collarbone to the very edge of his shoulder. John was walking really close behind him, and every once and a while they accidentally ran into each other. He cleared his throat.

When they got to the end of the path, John cleared his throat and bid him an awkward goodbye. Poseidon returned the favour equally as awkwardly, and they both gave each other weird half smiles before Poseidon left and Johnathan returned to the infirmary.

Poseidon stared at his shoes as he walked. What on earth was he going to do now?

***Hades’ Point of View***

Three knocks on the door. Hades looked up with surprise, stopping his sentence midway through. He’d never had anyone interrupt their meetings before: as far as he could tell, kids avoided the Big House like it was the plague. He supposed his day was already strange, miserable, and utterly confusing enough already that nothing could make it any worse, so it couldn’t be that bad.

He was mistaken.

The very man that made his day strange, miserable and utterly confusing gently opened the door, peeking his head in with his eyes as adorably wide as ever. “Hello?”

Chiron stood, clapping his hands together lightly. He seemed to do that a lot. “Poseidon! What a lovely surprise. What are you doing here?”

“I just wanted to talk to Hades,” Poseidon responded shyly, rocking on his feet.

Hades tried not to close his eyes.  _ Oh no… _ He wasn’t sure if his situation could get any worse, but if it could then it would be because of Poseidon. Specifically Poseidon being close to him. He had figured that out almost immediately after he realized he liked him and had made a plan to not interact with Poseidon as much as he usually did, but that plan did not seem to be working out very well.

“Oh, of course,” Chiron said, smiling kindly. “Do you need to do so in private?”

“Uh...maybe, yeah. If you don’t mind?”

Chiron only nodded and looked at Hades, gesturing towards Poseidon. “Of course not. Go ahead.”  
Hades tried to smile but it came out as more of a grimace. He stood, avoiding eye contact with Poseidon. Even seeing him made him feel a little gross—not because he didn’t like Poseidon, but because _oh my gods, he liked Poseidon._ He held the door open as Poseidon stepped back out, and tried to collect himself as he stepped out too. 

Poseidon walked a little bit away from the door but didn’t venture off the porch. He followed, looking at anything and everything except Poseidon. Poseidon turned and looked up at him, eyes wide with a little pout on his face.

Hades’ brain malfunctioned, and the only coherent thought he seemed to have was “ _ AHHHHHHH _ ”. 

Poseidon didn’t seem to notice and crossed his arms. He seemed to struggle with the words for a second, and then eventually huffed. “Will says I have a concussion.”

Hades’ thoughts flung back to him and he immediately frowned, examining Poseidon for any injury. Concern swept through him. “What? What happened? Are you okay?”

Poseidon waved him off. “Yes, I’m fine. He says he thinks I got it when I was with Chaos. He banged my head against the wall really hard one time and it might’ve resulted in a concussion.”

An immediate flash of anger consumed Hades, but confusion quickly overrode it. “Wait...but wasn’t that like...weeks ago?”

“That’s what I said,” Poseidon responded. “But he says that if not properly taken care of they can have long term effects. Like he thinks my appetite and memory is all messed up because of it. And sleep, too. I only sleep well when I’m with you guys. That’s how the topic came up: I’m usually tired at the infirmary.”

Hades’ brain malfunctioned a little bit again at the “I only sleep well when I’m with you guys” bit, but he mentally slapped himself and brought himself back together. “Oh, really?” his frown deepened. If he could kill that bastard again, he would. “I’m sorry to hear that. And you’re sure you’re okay now? What is he saying you should do?”

“He says I need to be on bedrest for four days,” Poseidon responded. He was obviously not happy about this arrangement: his shoulders got an extra slump and he gave the Big House a dirty look as if it was the fault of all of his problems. “That’s why I’m talking to you: he says that you need to bring me meals and stuff. I’m not allowed to leave my cabin except for walks. And even those are only once a day.” Poseidon looked up at him quickly. “And I just like talking to you, obviously.” He smiled sheepishly.

Hades couldn’t help the smile that creeped onto his face, though he wasn’t sure if he should be considering Poseidon seemed a little upset. Nonetheless he put a hand on Poseidon’s shoulder. “Oh, of course. I’m sorry to hear that. Do you want me to be with you the whole time?” Deep inside, Hades was longing for a yes, a nod of the head, but at the forefront of his mind he was hoping for a no. He did not need to be around Poseidon right now, let alone in his cabin. In his cabin all alone...no one suspicious, an excuse at the ready if someone questioned it...Poseidon in bed, expected to stay there for days on end…

Hades’ cheeks were warm by the time Poseidon responded. “Not the whole time,” he said shyly. “But I’d appreciate it if you stopped by sometimes.”

Hades nodded, a little too vigorously for it to be casual. He hoped Poseidon didn’t notice. “Of course, I wouldn’t dream of leaving you all alone. Do you have any specific times in mind?”

Poseidon bit his nails and rocked on his feet again. “Not really...I need you to bring me food and stuff, so I guess mealtimes. But you can stop by whenever.”

“Should I knock?” Hades asked.

Poseidon stared up at him, a little confusion in his eyes. “I mean if you want to, yeah. I usually don’t mind. Why?”

Hades’s cheeks warmed a little more and he tried not to rock on his feet. “Just in case you’re…uh…” he cleared his throat awkwardly. “Doing something.”

Poseidon’s eyes went a little wide with realization and his cheeks coloured. “Oh.” He let out an awkward laugh and rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah, right…uh, yeah knock maybe. Please.” There was a slight pause, but not long enough to where Hades could say something. “But not that I’m going to be doing that all the time,” Poseidon said quickly. 

Hades’ cheeks continued to get steadily warmer. “Yeah, yeah I know. Of course not, I just…y’know, you’re gonna be alone and stuff…” He was not helping himself, was he?

Poseidon’s face turned a beet red and he nodded. “Yeah…”

There were a few beats of silence. “Well, anyway,” Hades cleared his throat. “I’ll just make sure to drop by whenever possible. Okay?”

Poseidon nodded, seeming a little relieved at the change of topic. “Yeah, sounds good. Thanks.”

“Are you going to tell Zeus?” Hades asked.

Poseidon nodded. “Yeah, I was just gonna tell him after I told you. You guys can maybe switch bringing me meals if it’s too much of a bother.”

A fierce strike of jealously struck Hades’ chest. “No, no it’s fine. I’ll bring you your meals.” It was abrupt and short, and Poseidon blinked up at him with surprise.  _ Shit.  _ He cleared his throat and put a gentle smile on his face. “You should probably tell him he can come over if he wants, though.” Thankfully, the changes were subtle enough that Hades hoped Poseidon would think he had just imagined that Hades was jealous in the first sentence. Poseidon having  _ any  _ clue that he had a romantic attraction to him would be absolutely devastating: not only would it most likely ruin the bond they had built, but Poseidon would know that he was an  _ absolute _ fucking creep. He had a crush on his  _ brother.  _ Well—that wasn’t the biggest issue for them, but still. He felt gross. Hopefully this was just a phase that would pass soon: something he could laugh about when this was all over.

Poseidon smiled. “Oh, okay. Yeah, I will. It’ll be nice having a little break, but I think I’d go mad if I had  _ no one _ to talk to.”

Hades smiled too. “Yeah.”

There were a few beats of silence where they just stared at each other, smiling. 

P oseidon cleared his throat, widening his eyes a bit and looking away. “Well...I gotta go tell Zeus. But uh…” He looked back up. “I’ll see you around.” He gave a little wave and headed off the porch.

Hades gave the same little wave back and watched him leave. “Yeah, see you around…” 

He watched him go until he was out of sight. He looked ahead, right at the infirmary in the distance. He stood there for a while before his head fell back and he closed his eyes, groaning.

_ Fuck. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment if you can, I'm always a little more assured that people are reading this when you do!!! haha :)))  
> I hope you enjoyed!!! There could've been more tea in this chapter but trust me it's coming later and in the next one. I'll try to answer any questions if you have them! Ok goodbye!! Thank you for reading!!  
> (also btw can you tell Will is one of my favourite characters kakjshgskjhd)


	14. he has no lips how will he get a kiss kiss? very ugly no kiss for him hahahaha

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> poseidon gets some very tasty lunch and hades is a jealous boy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey yall!!! this is a few days late but not too bad,,,,sorry still :( I hope you enjoy!!!!!

_**Previously on 'Really? Again? My poor salad': "He stood there for a while before his head fell back and he closed his eyes, groaning. Fuck."** _

Poseidon was bored.

Like really bored. Like —really, really bored. Bored to the point where it was almost physically painful and he kept on kicking his legs just for something to do. He wasn’t supposed to do that, was he? He was just supposed to lie still. For two hours. Ugh. 

He did it again anyway. When his legs fell back onto the bed, he glanced at the clock.

He looked back ahead.

It had been thirteen minutes.

_ Ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. _

He tried to close his eyes, but opened them again when he remembered he wasn’t supposed to sleep. Wait—was he allowed to sleep? Had Will mentioned anything about that? He couldn’t remember for the life of him...Oh right. That’s why he was doing this. Ugh.  _ Stop thinking about stuff, you’re not supposed to think about stuff. _

Poseidon huffed at his own internal voice and pouted. He didn’t want to do this. Why did he have to do this? Wasn’t just sleeping fine?  _ Can I sleep? He said no daydreaming...does that include night-dreaming? _ The only thing Poseidon could really recall from that part of the conversation was something about brain stimulation and how somehow twiddling his thumbs counted as that. So did dreams? 

Yeah, probably.

_ Ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. _

***Time Break***

When the two hours were up Poseidon was very close to pissing himself, both metaphorically and not-so-metaphorically. As soon as the clock struck 12, he shot up off the bed and ran to the bathroom. He pulled down his sweatpants at record speed and relieved himself, sighing. He would keep that in mind: pee before the two hours. The pee brought him both relief in his nether regions and peace of mind, knowing that he could now officially...uh...think? He could think now? There really wasn’t much other reward, was there? 

He groaned and collapsed onto the bed again, falling flat on his stomach. The room was dark and cool, his curtains drawn and lights off. The fountain emitted a soft glow, but it was subtle enough to where he thought he could get away with it. His cheek pressed into his pillows, squishing up and blocking some of the vision in his left eye. His breath was warm and his hair tickled his face, but he did not bring himself to swipe it away.

He found himself longing for someone’s company, which might not have been a good thing considering it had been a grand total of about two and a half hours since he first entered his cabin. He wondered what Hades was doing. Maybe he was planning with Chiron or maybe he was eating lunch. He had been acting a little weird today, Poseidon noticed. He seemed almost uncomfortable, like something was bothering him. He had barely even looked at Poseidon. Poseidon frowned. He should’ve asked if something was wrong. He’ll ask when Hades brings him lu—

Three knocks on the door.

Poseidon twisted his head at an odd angle to see the door. _Huh_. _Speaking of._ He smiled. “Come in!”  
Hades opened the door gently, peeking through the crack before he entered. Right behind him, Poseidon could just see Zeus peeking over his shoulder. They made eye contact and Zeus gave him a wave, smiling. Poseidon waved too, but still didn’t get up from his position on the bed. Hades smiled and opened the door fully, stepping in. 

“Hello, Poseidon,” he greeted. He had two plates in his hand, one full of an assortment of food and one with a sandwich.

Zeus walked in behind him. He had one plate in his hand, but three cups balanced in the crook of his elbow. “Hey, Poseidon. ‘You dead yet?”

Poseidon grinned and finally pushed himself off the bed. It was good timing: too early and they’d mess up his two hours and any later he would’ve gone insane. “Hey guys. No, not quite yet.” He stretched, arching his back. It cracked a little and he flopped back down, sighing. Hades and Zeus laughed. It took him another moment before he got up again, and when he did Hades handed him the plate with the assortment of food.

He didn’t take it for a moment, looking up with an eyebrow raised. “Is that one for me?”

Hades nodded, smile a little sheepish. “Yeah. We thought it would cheer you up a little.” 

They made eye contact. Poseidon gave a little smile and then looked away, cheeks warming. Something about eye contact was always a little...different. He took the plate. “Thanks.” He looked over at Zeus, who was holding a cup up for him to take. His younger brother had a strange look in his eyes, almost suspicious. They were narrowed ever so slightly and his brow was lightly furrowed. He glanced at Hades and then back at Poseidon, the look not leaving. 

“What?” Poseidon asked, taking the cup. His brow furrowed as well, searching for any kind of hurt or sadness in his eyes. He couldn’t find any, but he was still confused as to what had brought the expression on.

Zeus shook his head and wiped the expression off his face, smiling. “What? Nothing, sorry.” He cleared his throat and shook his head again. He thrusted the cup a little closer to Poseidon. “We got you apple juice.”

Poseidon took it and looked down at the contents of the cup. Sure enough, it looked like dehydrated pee and smelled like sugar. Apple juice. He smiled, but quickly looked up again. “Are you sure?”

Zeus cocked an eyebrow up. “About whether it’s apple juice or about the first part?”

Hades laughed and Poseidon rolled his eyes. “About the first part, dimwit.”

Zeus snickered. “Yeah,” he said with a reassuring nod. “Just got into my head a little there.”

“Okay,” Poseidon responded, nodding a little reluctantly. He took a sip of his apple juice and secured the plate in his lap. “But you can tell us if something’s wrong.”  
Zeus nodded again. “I know.”

“Okay.” Poseidon looked down at his plate. It smelled delicious, but didn’t look very lunch-y. Muffins, cupcakes, normal cake, two mini donuts, piles of fruit, pancakes, waffles and a single piece of toast with jam on it. All of it was blue. He grinned, looking back up at his two brothers. “Seriously guys?”

Hades rubbed the back of his neck and Zeus laughed. “Yeah,” Hades replied. “We didn’t really know what you liked the most, so we kind of got you everything…”

Poseidon shook his head, still grinning. “You guys are insane.” Carefully, he moved back on the bed, making sure to not spill any contents of his cup or anything on his plate. “Why don’t you guys come up here, I’m not gonna make you eat on the floor.”

Zeus did not seem to be too against the idea and got up from his kneeling position, plopped down on the bed right next to Poseidon, and then looked back at Hades with an expecting look on his face. Hades looked almost uncomfortable, clearing his throat and clenching his jaw lightly.

Poseidon frowned. “Is something wrong Hades?”

Hades looked at him, eyebrows raising ever so slightly. He broke out into a smile. “What? Oh no, I’m alright, thank you.”

Poseidon frowned deeper. He examined Hades’ face for any sign of anger or sadness, but he couldn’t really find anything. “Are you sure? You were acting a little weird earlier too.”  
Hades shifted, a little fear entering his eyes. It was masked quick enough that Poseidon thought he might’ve imagined it. Hades cleared his throat. “Oh, sorry. I don’t know. I’m fine.” He paused and looked at the bed, then at the drink and plate in his hands. “Uh…”

“Oh here, I’ll take that.” Zeus pushed himself into a sitting position and grabbed the cup from Hades’ hands. 

“Oh, thanks,” Hades replied, making sure it was securely in Zeus’ hand before he let go. When he was sitting comfortably on the other side of Poseidon, Zeus handed Hades his drink carefully, and Hades took it with a grateful nod. “Thank you.”  
Zeus simply nodded back. Poseidon took a sip of his apple juice. “How are you guys doing?”  
“Pretty good, thanks,” Zeus replied, taking a sip of his own juice. Or—some kind of liquid. Poseidon assumed it was juice. “We had a pretty good meeting today. We started talking about how we’re gonna divide teams and stuff.”

“Oh, that's cool,” Poseidon replied. There was a slight pause. “Wait, isn’t it just by cabin?” He jerked up a curious eyebrow and picked up a blueberry muffin, taking a bite out of it. “That’s how it usually is.” Crumbs fell out of his mouth and he put a hand over it, laughing a little bit.

Zeus laughed and Hades smiled, amused. 

“Yeah,” Zeus responded, “it’s usually like that, but we’re debating whether we’re going to have one representative from a cabin compete or if when one representative loses then another one just comes up and fights the winner. It would go on until there are no cabins left. The only problem is that if we do that, cabins like ours are only gonna have us, which means if we lose once then we’re automatically disqualified and that’s not really fair.”

Poseidon nodded. “Ohhh, I see.” He chewed on his muffin curiously. “Can you explain how it would work more again, though? I’m a little confused.”

Zeus nodded, eyes lighting up a little. Poseidon couldn't tell if he was excited because he liked talking about it or because Poseidon was interested in something he had to say. Poseidon hoped it was the former, he hated to think that Zeus would be so delighted that he was interested in what he had to say. It should be a norm.

“Yeah, of course!” Zeus sounded somewhat like a kid on Christmas. “So basically there will be a day designated to two cabins. Each of the cabins have their own “First Representative”, who goes up to joust first. They battle it out with the first representative of the cabin they’re assigned to go against that day. Whoever wins out of the first representatives fights the next one up (also known as the second representative) and so on and so forth. Whoever wins out of that either faces the second representative of the first winner or the third representative of the previous loser. The game goes until one cabin is out of members. Do you get it?”

Poseidon continued to chew on his muffin thoughtfully. To speak, he shoved the food to one side of his mouth so that his cheek puffed out like a chipmunk. Hades smiled, though he didn’t know why. “Yeah, I kinda get it. But wouldn’t it be a little unfair to put like—the Ares cabin against the Demeter cabin? We already know who’s gonna win.”

Zeus shrugged. “Nah, not really. I don’t think any of them have done jousting before, so everyone’s gonna be a little bad. We’ll try to make them even matchups, though I suppose weaker ones are going to have to fight stronger ones eventually. I don’t know. This is just the way we figured is best.” He shrugged again.

Poseidon hummed and nodded. “Yeah, yeah I’m not saying it’s a bad idea. Just thought that might’ve been a little set back to fix, but I see your point.” He shrugged as well. There were a few beats of silence. “Oh!” He looked at Hades, eyebrows raising and eyes widening slightly. “What about you, Hades? How have you been today?”

Hades took a sip of whatever was in his cup. It kind of looked like red wine. “Nothing much, thank you for asking. I’ve just been…” he paused, “—thinking.”

“That’s a first,” Poseidon said playfully.

“Wow, don’t get too crazy here,” Zeus added monotonously.

Hades rolled his eyes, obviously trying to suppress a smile. “Oh, shut up. I just meant about the topics Chiron, Dionysus and I are talking about.”

“Oh sureeee,” Poseidon replied, overdramatically falling back onto the bed. Zeus laughed. He made sure his food was secure with his hand, but then used that same hand to grip his thigh and push himself back up into a sitting position. When he was sat up straight, Hades had a slight blush on his face and was looking away, clearing his throat awkwardly. Poseidon frowned, tilting his head. “I don’t think you actually don’t think,” he said, trying to comfort him. He bumped his shoulders with him.

Hades looked up with mild surprise, and then laughed. “Oh, I know. I’m just a little…” he cleared his throat. “Warm.”

Poseidon jerked his head to the side, debating whether to bring up the fact he seemed uncomfortable or not. He opted not to,and instead just laughed. “Oh, okay.” There was an awkward silence after that. He took a sip of apple juice. Everything on his plate looked like such Elysium that he almost didn't know where to start. Well: he had already started with the blueberry muffin, but still. There was a lot on there.

“You should try the waffles,” Zeus advised. Poseidon looked up, grateful for the break of silence. Zeus was taking a bite of his sandwich. “They’re really good.”

Poseidon looked down at his plate and nodded. “Okay, cool.” He picked up the utensils on the side of his plate. “Is it blueberry syrup on it or just blue maple syrup?” 

Zeus’ brow furrowed, but he answered nonetheless. “Uh, I think just blue maple syrup but I’m not sure…”

Poseidon nodded. “It’s okay, I’ll find out anyway. Thanks.”

Zeus nodded as well. He scooched a little closer to Poseidon and Poseidon smiled, leaning his head on Zeus’ shoulder. Zeus was warm. The thickness of his hoodie provided a sort of cushion for Poseidon’s head, almost making him want to fall asleep again. Zeus’s shoulders were hard, Poseidon had noticed, so he was grateful for the extra padding. They weren’t bone-hard, more muscle-hard. Poseidon didn’t quite mind resting his head on them.

He felt a shift of energy from beside him and looked over at Hades, who was looking ahead with his jaw clenched. He rose off Zeus’s shoulder, huffing. Hades never clenched his jaw unless annoyed, sad or angry. “Okay, something’s up with you. What is it?”

Hades looked over, eyes guarded with one eyebrow raised. “Me?”  
“Yes _you._ ” He poked his shoulder. “What’s going on with you?”

Hades looked back ahead, amusement replacing the shield in his eyes. Poseidon couldn’t tell if it was fake or not. “Nothing, Posie. I don’t know what’s going on in that head of yours.”

“ _ Posie? _ ” Poseidon said, screwing his face up. “Okay, you  _ never  _ say Posie unless something’s serious. What’s going on?” Was this bigger than he thought it was? The last time Hades used that nickname was...Gods, he couldn’t remember. But he did remember the correlation between that name and serious situations.

Hades snorted. “Poseidon.” He looked over, exasperation written all over his face. “You’re overthinking this. Nothing’s wrong, darling.” He lifted a hand and stroked his cheek.

Poseidon’s face warmed and something stirred in his stomach.

Hades cleared his throat and removed the hand, looking like he was having a mild existential crisis. “Uhm…” he cleared his throat again, “Uh...Yeah, nothing’s wrong.” He treated the hand he used to stroke Poseidon’s cheek as if it had been burned, cradling it in his lap.

“Okay, what’s going on with  _ you two? _ ” Zeus asked, amusement lacing his voice.

Poseidon looked back over his shoulder at him. “What?”

“You’re so shy around each other all of the sudden.” It seemed to be pure amusement twinkling in Zeus’ eyes, as if he was hearing about the new drama Aphrodite had stirred recently. 

“What do you mean?” Hades asked. Poseidon thought he heard a trace of fear in it, but it was so overpowered by curiosity that he might’ve just imagined it.

Zeus shrugged, still grinning. “I don’t know. Hades just retracted his hand like it had been burned after touching your face and he also seemed mildly uncomfortable getting up on the bed as well. Did you guys accidentally see each other naked or something?”

Poseidon rubbed the back of his neck and Hades laughed uncomfortably. Zeus seemed to find that hilarious, throwing his head back as he burst into laughter. Poseidon blushed and Zeus fell over, clutching his sides. “You just proved…” he wheezed, “you just proved my…point.” It was as if he just saw Poseidon trying to dance ballet, entire body moving with his laughter.

Poseidon smacked him, huffing into a pout. “Shut up. Nothing happened. I think Hades might just be a little tired today. Right Hades?”  
When he looked back at his elder brother, he was blushing and staring at Poseidon with an emotion Poseidon couldn’t decipher. He quickly looked away. “Yeah, yeah, that’s all. It’s also a little warm in here.”

Zeus was still laughing a little bit, but sat back up and wiped the tears from his eyes. “Okay, okay, whatever. I just really thought you two saw each other naked there for a second.”  
“Why would we be embarrassed by that?” Poseidon asked, rolling his eyes. “We’ve seen each other naked countless times.”

Zeus burst back out into laughter and Poseidon buried his face in his hand, blush burning brighter. “Oh my gods. I’m not helping myself am I?”

Zeus just continued to laugh, shaking his head.

“But still, nothing’s wrong.” He removed his hands from his face. “Right Hades?” He looked at Hades, who got a panicked look in his eyes and started nodding frantically. 

“Uh, yeah! Nothing’s wrong with us.” He gave a hyper-exaggerated nod to Zeus. “Absolutely nothing. Nothing’s changed.”

Both Poseidon and Zeus raised an eyebrow.  _ Was  _ there something off? Hades never acted flustered. If there was actually nothing wrong he would be a lot more casual…

Hades seemed to panic more. “What? Why are you looking at me like that?”

“No reason,” Zeus said, not being subtle with the fact that he most definitely had a reason. “Just think you’re acting a little odd, that’s all.”

Hades breathed deeply. His face morphed from panicked and flustered to calm and collected, giving Zeus a small smirk. “Oh, pardon me. I am just a little tired, that’s all. It’s been a long day.”

“It’s only noon,” Zeus said amusedly, with an underlying tone of accusation. 

Poseidon quickly changed the subject. “It’s been a long day for you? I had to sit and do nothing for two hours! Nothing! Not even fiddling with my fingers!”

“Why not fiddling with your fingers?” Zeus asked, picking up Poseidon’s’s fingers while he was at it.

Poseidons’s cheeks warmed. Zeus’s fingers were thicker than his, but about the same length. His palms were a little bigger, but mostly just wider. Zeus had stubby hands. Poseidon thought that was kind of funny. 

“Will says it counts as brain stimulation and I can’t have any of that. I can’t daydream either, I just kind of have to think of nothing.”

Zeus scrunched his nose up. “That sounds terrible.” 

“I know right?”

“How did you think of nothing?” Hades asked curiously, placing his hands behind his head. “Surely you must’ve at least accidentally thought of something every once and awhile.”

“Sometimes I did,” Poseidon admitted, cutting up his pancakes. “But I tried not to. I guess I thought of trying not to think of stuff.” He snorted. Hades laughed as well.

Zeus stole a piece of muffin off Poseidon’s plate. “You thought about that little brown haired chick, didn’t you?” He tried to suppress a smile.

Hades had not been saying anything, but he somehow seemed to go even more silent.

Poseidon’s face burned. “ _ What _ ? What little brown haired chick?” 

Okay, maybe that was exaggerating a little bit: he knew which one he was talking about. That girl who came along with her tall ginger friend. Ew. Wait, that was mean—

“Oh sureee—” Zeus rolled his eyes, “—you don’t know who I’m talking about. The short brunette that’s always wearing that dark grey t-shirt. Y'know, the one that comes with her little friend?”

Poseidon’s face burned brighter and he spluttered. “I...no…”

“Poseidon doesn’t like her,” Hades cut in. It didn’t have a matter-of-fact tone like Poseidon assumed it would, but more of an insecure-and-asking-for-validation tone. “Right Poseidon?”

Poseidon whipped his head to Hades briefly and then turned back and frantically nodded. “Yeah! Yeah no, I don’t like her at all. No. Ew. Yeah, no way.” It was true, but he wasn’t helping himself was he? 

He thought about Hades’ tone. It was a little odd: he didn’t know why on earth Hades would need validation that something like this was a joke. Hades wasn’t that type of person.  _ Hm... _ Poseidon’s gut sank. Did  _ Hades _ like her? They hadn’t talked as far as Poseidon knew...but he wasn’t around Hades 24/7...His gut churned. He didn’t know why, but the idea of Hades liking her did not sit well with him. Maybe that meant Poseidon liked her? But he didn’t… 

Zeus threw his head back and laughed. Poseidon grumbled and tried to suppress a smile, punching him lightly. “Oh, shut up. I don’t.”

“Wait, do you?” Hades asked.

When Poseidon looked over, he was frowning. Poseidon frowned as well. This was confusing. “What? No. Actually no. Zeus is just a dick.” To finish the statement, he punched Zeus in the shoulder again. Zeus recoiled, still laughing.

“But you guys are acting like you actually do,” Hades pushed. Poseidon couldn’t quite place the tone of his voice, what emotions it held. “Like how people usually laugh and get embarrassed when they actually like someone. Did I miss something? I thought you were creeped out by them.”

He jerked his head to the side, brow furrowing deeply. “No, we’re just joking Hades. Why?” He didn’t feel like asking Hades if he liked her or not, but…Wait. A thought occurred to him. “Do you  _ not _ like her?” He frowned deeper. Had she said something to Hades? He hoped not...As much as he did find her creepy, he wouldn’t be scared of going up and telling her to back off of Hades. No one made Hades uncomfortable on his watch. Well—maybe that wasn’t true, because almost the whole camp had made Hades uncomfortable throughout this whole thing. Perhaps better phrasing would be that no particular individual made Hades uncomfortable under Poseidon’s watch if it was possible for him to stop it. 

“Oh,” Hades relaxed and smiled lightly, leaning against the wall. “Okay, sorry. I just read the situation wrong. No reason, I just always got creepy vibes from her and wouldn't want you to be caught up with the wrong people.” 

Poseidon nodded and let out a small breath of relief. “Ohh, okay.”

Before he even finished the sentence, Hades slinked and arm over his shoulders. His cheeks warmed and he scooted closer, bringing his plate with him. He gestured for Zeus to come closer too, who did so with a trying-to-act-reluctant-and-failing roll of the eyes. Poseidon laughed at him.

Over Poseidon’s head, Hades gave Zeus a subtle glare. Both Zeus and Poseidon stared at him funnily, but the look slipped out of his eyes and he was back to normal.

Poseidon didn’t question it, and they ate the rest of their lunch engaged in polite small talk.

*****Time Break*** *Hades’ POV***

“Hades, may I talk to you for a second?”

Hades turned. They just exited Poseidon’s cabin, much to Poseidon's reluctance. Poseidon had clung onto them for dear life as they left, begging them not to go. Of course it was jokingly, but Hades still found it hard to deny. Poseidon had hoisted himself up on Hades, jumping and wrapping his legs around his waist for a second. Though he was light, he was still too heavy for Hades to hold onto for a prolonged period of time when he had no warning, so he quickly jumped back off before they could fall. Poseidon and Zeus laughed about it, but Hades was just thankful that he didn’t stay on for any longer. He had just realized his little crush, but he had found Poseidon attractive since...he didn’t know, a while. He didn’t need  _ that  _ happening right now.

It did feel nice though.

_ No Hades. Bad Hades. _

He had nice thighs.

_ Nooooo. Bad. Bad. _

Hades shook his head, snapping out of it. Zeus was looking at him with confusion and mild concern. He smiled smoothly. “Sorry, yes?” He remembered that Zeus had followed up his name with something. “Oh right. Of course, what do you need to talk about?”

Zeus walked closer to him and shot a glance at the Poseidon cabin. “Nothing serious. Let’s just get out of uh…” he glanced towards the Poseidon cabin again (Hades thought it was a little comical: his eyes looked like they were dancing or something), “...earshot.” He lowered his voice.

Hades frowned, brow furrowing. A wave of protectiveness washed over him. “Are you going to talk shit about him?” He kept his voice low for Zeus’ sake, but if it turned out that that was his intention…

“No!” Zeus said, screwing his face up. “I just mean...well, I guess it doesn’t matter. But I do...want to talk about him.” His voice went even lower.

Hades narrowed his eyes and sized Zeus up for a second, but eventually nodded. “Okay.”

They walked in silence for a little while until they were in a spot where there was relatively no one. Zeus cleared his throat. “I was just wondering about your thoughts on Poseidon’s concussion.”

Hades raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

Zeus shrugged, shifting uncomfortably. “I don't know. Like what do you want to do about it? Should we visit him together, separately…”

In the light heartedness of their visit to the Poseidon cabin, Hades had forgotten about the tension between him and Zeus. It came back full force. “Oh. I’m not sure. Is that what you would like?”

Zeus shrugged, rubbing the back of his neck. There was something off about his face. “I don’t know. That’s why I was asking you.”

Hades stared ahead. “Perhaps separately would be best?”

Zeus went silent. Hades looked over, one brow raising. His youngest brother’s lips were pursed and his shoulders looked like they were struggling to stay upright. His eyes were guarded, but Hades knew something was wrong. “Okay.” It was much quieter than it should’ve been.

Hades frowned. Was he upset by what he said? He thought he would appreciate that. That way he and Poseidon would be alone. Hold on…

That meant Zeus and Poseidon would be alone. 

Hades’ gut sank. He cleared his throat. “Is something wrong with that? It was just a suggestion. We can go together if you’d like.”

“No it’s fine,” Zeus said. His voice was a whisper, but Hades didn’t think it was intentional. “We can go separately.”

“No,” Hades said forcefully, “let’s go together. Really.”

Zeus looked up at him, confused. It passed and then he suddenly looked hopeful, eyes lighting up a little bit. “Really?”

Hades swallowed. What was this about? Did Zeus  _ want  _ to be with him? He thought he hated him… “Uh, really. Yeah.” He refrained from furrowing his brow.

Zeus smiled a little more brightly than usual. He looked the most like his godly self out of all three of them, something in his face just not quite human-like. “Okay, cool.”

Well now Hades felt vaguely guilty.

He wanted to go with Zeus so he and Poseidon wouldn’t be alone together, not because he wanted to hang out with Zeus. But Zeus seemed to take it as...wait. Was he excited because Hades “wanted” to hang out with him or was he excited for the same reason Hades was excited: so the other person wouldn’t be alone with Poseidon?

“Do you want to be with me so you know Poseidon and I aren’t alone together?” He didn’t mean to be so blunt, but it came out that way.

Zeus looked back up at him, now only confusion in his features. “Sorry?”

Hades stared at him intensely, white hot jealousy creeping through his veins. “I asked you if you only want to be with me so you know that Poseidon and I aren't alone.”

Zeus looked like he just spoke to him in Greek. Wait. Maybe the “Greek” expressions weren’t great for them. Zeus looked at him like he just spoke in some alien language. There we go. “ _ What? _ ”

“You heard what I said.”

“I don’t think you’re a predator, Hades! What do you mean? What made you think that?” Zeus seemed almost offended, voice raising a few octaves.

Hades’ brow furrowed. What? “I...what? When did I say that? What?”

Zeus’ brow furrowed as well. “What do you mean ‘what’?  
They both stared at each other for a moment, the smell of dumbass thick in the air. 

Hades was finally the one to break it, shaking his head and blinking at Zeus stupidly. “What? I meant…” he swallowed. It was more embarrassing to explain it. He didn’t exactly know why: it should be Zeus being the embarrassed one. “I meant are you like...jealous.”

Zeus blinked as well. “Jealous…?

Hades looked away and cleared his throat. “Of me and Poseidon being alone together.” He still had the wave of protectiveness and his voice sounded a lot cooler than it probably should have for the context.

Zeus stared at him like he was the most utterly baffling creature to ever walk the planet. “You think I’m jealous of you and Poseidon being alone together…?” he took a moment to register it, looking a little bit dumb in the process. His mouth was slightly open and his face was completely relaxed so he looked a little chubbier than normal. Well—he looked chubby. He wasn’t Poseidon thin, but there wasn’t a whole lot of excess fat on him either. He’d always been more muscular than the rest of them. There was a tiny amount of baby fat on his cheeks now, but it was more of a youthful plumpness than unflattering or flappy. He didn’t really have a base of chubbiness to look “more chubby than usual”. “Why would I be jealous?” he looked back up from where he had been staring at the ground with utter confusion and the chubbiness went away.

Hades cleared his throat uncomfortably again. At this point, his throat was screaming at him to drink some water. “If you don’t know what I’m talking about then forget it.” Shit. What if Zeus thought the idea of any of them liking each other was weird? It would be understandable…

“No, no, no,” Zeus said, walking closer to him. “Tell me. Why would I be…” he screwed his face up slightly, “jealous, of all things?”

Hades sighed. He’d gotten himself into a pickle, hadn’t he? Gods…“Um…” he refrained from fiddling with his hands, “I just thought you may not like us hanging out alone together after y’know…”  _ C’mon, think of something… _ “After you...uh, y’know, felt left out and stuff.” Hades let out an internal sigh of relief. Good one.

Zeus visibly understood, confusion clearing from his eyes as his brow relaxed and his frown slipped into a smile. “Ohhhh. Nah man. I’m fine.” He coughed lightly, smile glowing a little bit. He bumped his shoulder into Hades’. “Thanks for thinking of that, though.”

Yet again, Hades felt vaguely guilty. He wasn't thinking of that at all. “Of course, if you’re sure.”

“Well—” he shrugged, “—we’re going together anyway now, so.”

Hades laughed and rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah, we are…”

There was a somewhat awkward silence. Zeus was beaming beside him while somehow not showing any teeth. Hades wondered why. Maybe some girl had taken an interest in him. Hades felt a little pity for her.

Hey, at least it was one less person after Poseidon.

Hades was going to snap at those kids one day. If they showed up at Poseidon’s cabin and made him uncomfortable while in a vulnerable state...Hades was not going to be incredibly merciful, to put it lightly. At least the tall ginger and the short brunette were the only ones who had ever taken any sort of action, and as far as Hades knew it was by accident, but still...He guessed Poseidon might take it as somewhat of a good thing: at least he still had a sexual appeal to some people. Actually, he wasn’t sure if he liked that. Hades wasn’t sure how nice being sexually appealing to teenagers you’re not sure are above 18 would be. He supposed he could ask Zeus, but he might not be the best source. Zeus took everything as a compliment. 

Out of the corner of his eye, Hades caught a tall, familiar figure heading towards the cabin area. He quickly turned, not bothering to be incredibly subtle. It was Jonathan, Poseidon’s co-worker. There were a multitude of reasons Hades didn’t like the boy, but the fact that he was heading towards the Poseidon cabin might have just added one onto the list. Zeus turned too. Hades was glad: he knew the boy was still scared of Zeus, even while he was a teenager. Everyone was. The boy might get a little intimidated.

Hades gave him the benefit of the doubt and didn’t get angry before he was even certain that he was heading for the Poseidon cabin. 

But then he stopped right in front of it. 

Then he walked up the front steps and onto the small porch. 

Then he knocked on the door. 

Then a few moments passed.

Then Poseidon opened the door to greet him.

Then a few words were exchanged. 

Then Poseidon let him in and shut the door behind them.

Hades did not like that one bit. 

Zeus stared at the closed cabin door along with Hades. “Why is he there?”

Hades glared at it. “I don’t know, and I don’t want to continue not knowing.”

There was a pause. He and Zeus exchanged a glance.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> every single time i know i have something to say in the authors note but i always forget what it is. Okay anyway!!! Hopefully I remember next time!!! Love you and thank you for reading!!!!  
> (Also comment anything you want to see in the future!)  
> xx


	15. this chapter seems a lot shorter than it is?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> as the title states, this chapter is like 5k but ig bc its really only two scenes it makes it seem shorter??? idk. anyway

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone!!!! Thank you for coming back!!! I hope you're all safe during this quarantine! Love you guys, be safe out there! Xx

**_Previously on ‘Really? Again? My poor salad’: “_ ** **_He and Zeus exchanged a glance. “Yeah?” “Yeah.””_ **

Poseidon's POV

Three knocks on the door. 

Poseidon looked up from where he had his face smashed into his pillow, brow furrowing. Were they back already? He pushed himself off the bed and rose, walking over to the door. He opened it, but instead of finding the two faces of his brothers he found John’s chest directly in his face. He snapped his head up. “John? What are you doing here?”

John smiled awkwardly and took a step back, rubbing the back of his neck. “Uh, I just wanted to check in on you. Will said that, uh…” he suddenly looked awkward. “Nevermind. I just wanted to come in and see how you’re doing. I figured that we’ve gotten close enough.”

Poseidon shifted awkwardly. Had they? Not really. Though his overall negative feelings towards John had lessened, the feeling that something was off with him was still prevalent. Sure, maybe he just had a bad first impression, but still. Usually the “off” feeling he got from people faded if nothing was actually wrong. He nodded stiffly. “Uh, sure,” he said awkwardly, “come in, yeah.” He opened the door slightly more and stepped out of the way.

John stepped in, giving him a light but awkward smile. Poseidon shut the door behind him and leaned against it, palms sweaty. He wasn’t used to anyone except Zeus and Hades being alone with him in here. He would’ve been fine with it if he was back to his godly form, but then again he would be fine with a lot of things if he was back in his godly form. John towered over him as always, making the ceilings look comically short. He must’ve been wearing shoes with a thick sole on them, because he seemed even taller than usual today. Or, maybe Poseidon was just leaning against the door. That was probably it. 

John cleared his throat awkwardly and turned towards Poseidon. “Uh...hey.”

“Hey.” Poseidon gave an awkward smile, one of the ones that was more of just pressing your lips together.

John rocked on his feet once and then steadied himself. “Uh...you should probably lay down, that’s what’s recommended for treating concussions.”

“Oh, right, yeah.” Poseidon pushed off the door.  _ Oh my god this is so awkward. Oh, please let this end. Why is he here?  _ He didn’t say any of that aloud and walked over to the bed, sitting down and pulling the blankets over him. It made him feel a little childish, as if he was tucking himself in and John was his parent there to make sure he got in safely. He cleared his throat once he got in. 

John hovered awkwardly, but then sat down next to Poseidon’s legs on the bed. Okay,  _ now  _ Poseidon felt like a child. John placed his hands on his thighs and rubbed his palms awkwardly. Poseidon didn’t blame him. “So...how have you been feeling? Did you do your two hours of nothing yet?”

Poseidon nodded, shifting a little. Something about this didn’t feel entirely comfortable to him. Being alone with attractive people he didn’t know was usually a good thing, but not right now. It made him shifty and uncomfortable. “Yeah, I did. I finished right before Hades and Zeus came in.”

“Hades and Zeus came in?” John asked. Something about his tone let Poseidon know that he already knew that, he was just trying to start a conversation.

Poseidon nodded. “Yeah, they brought me lunch and we hung out for a bit. They left right before you came in.”

John pretended to be interested. “Oh, okay. Yeah, I think I might’ve seen them. Were you laying down?”

Poseidon’s brow furrowed and he jerked his head to the side. “Pardon me?”

“Were you laying down?” John repeated. “For your concussion.”

“Oh,” Poseidon looked away awkwardly. John didn’t have the same vibe as Will did. With John it felt like an interrogation, like if he said the wrong thing it would be used against him. “No, I didn’t, sorry.”

“It’s alright. Just do it next time.” There was a beat of silence, but John was obviously intending to speak. “I’d like to be there the next time you lay down, though.” There was a stiff sort of silence after that, where Poseidon could tell John was holding his breath.

He furrowed his brow. “Uh...while Zeus and Hades are here, you mean?” Was something wrong? Why did he look like he just stepped on a lego and was trying to not make a sound? “Is everything alright?”

John looked like he was cringing for a second, before the look wiped off his face and he smiled, cheeks colouring. “Uh, yeah, nothing. Yeah, I just meant to make sure you’re doing everything correctly and stuff.”

Oh no. That sounded like a terrible idea. “Oh, don’t worry,” Poseidon said quickly, “I’ll make sure to do it right. Just laying down, right? I’ll tell Zeus and Hades too, so they know to keep me on track.”

John nodded, looking slightly relieved. “Oh, okay. I know it might be a little hard to eat, but try your best. Maybe stack some pillows and lean on them so you’re still laying down but also elevated enough to not choke.”

Poseidon nodded. “That sounds like a good idea, thanks.” 

John nodded.

Awkwardness.

“So, have you been training at all?” John asked. His voice seemed a lot smoother and deeper all of the sudden. Poseidon figured it must’ve been an attempt to make this less awkward: usually, if it didn’t sound awkward then it wasn’t. He appreciated the gesture.

“Not really,” Poseidon admitted, cheeks warming. It was slightly embarrassing: he’d spent nearly a month at camp and hadn’t trained once. “I’ve just been hanging out. Also working at the infirmary now, as you know.”

John nodded, looking overly interested (letting Poseidon know he was just  _ trying _ to look interested).“Oh, yeah man, that’s cool. I know it seems like there’s a pressure to train at first glance, but no one really cares so long as there’s not a war coming up.” He shrugged.

Poseidon was ashamed to admit that it brought him some comfort. He didn’t know what it was about John, but Poseidon felt like accepting any sort of advice or comfort from him was a blow to his ego. Perhaps it was the ever-present condescending tone to his voice. “Okay, cool.” A beat of silence. “Do you like to train?” Poseidon figured that was a nice way to continue the conversation and not make this a living hell.

John nodded, a smile creeping onto his face. “Oh yeah. Whenever I’m not in the infirmary I’m usually training.”

Poseidon’s eyebrows raised. “Really? You like being prepared for battle that much?”

John shrugged, jutting out his bottom lip in a pondering way. “Yes, that, and...this.” He lifted his hoodie, revealing a hard plain of stomach sculpted with muscle.

Poseidon looked away, blushing.  _ That was a weird thing to do.  _ He coughed awkwardly, resisting the urge to rub the back of his neck. He’d seen it before when John’s hoodie rode, up but now in their current situation it made him a little more flustered than normal. His jeans were low rise and Poseidon could see the veins running down his pelvis. John was laughing as if it was just another joke, so Poseidon laughed too, attempting to mimic it. “Yeah, that’s understandable.” He felt mildly insecure all of the sudden. He was thousands of years older than John and all he had now was the line running down his stomach and a few ribs jutting out. Not even in the attractive way like how some muscle-y dudes have. He just looked malnourished. 

“Do you like working out at all?” John asked casually, placing his hoodie down. There was almost a satisfied tone to his voice now. Poseidon didn’t know why.

Poseidon tried to collect himself. “Uh...yeah, a little bit. I used to a lot more when I was a god.”

John nodded. “Yeah. Do you miss your muscles?”

Poseidon nodded, rolling his eyes exaggeratedly. “You can say that again.”

John laughed. He placed a hand just below Poseidon’s knee and gave it a small shake. Poseidon seized up a little. “Well, I think you look fine as you are now.”

There was an odd tone to it. It sounded like a standard compliment, but something about it was expecting. Now whether it was expecting a reaction or a compliment back, Poseidon didn't know. But he did know that he was suddenly uncomfortable not only in the awkward way, but the uneasy way. Something about John’s body language and the way he talked reminded Poseidon of someone he did not want to remember.  _ He knows that we’re alone...He knows no one would notice a thing if he tried anything... _ Poseidon jerked his leg out of John’s hand and cleared his throat, backing away. “Uh, thanks…”

John removed his hand and cleared his throat as well. It was obvious John knew Poseidon didn’t appreciate it: it was something in the vibe of his awkwardness that let Poseidon know it wasn’t just because they didn’t know what to talk about. Although, now that was an even more pressing problem: they were both left in silence, now having absolutely no clue how to start another conversation.

“So, how have you been liking being a mortal?” John asked.

Oh —so Poseidon was just the one who didn’t know how to start a conversation. Nevermind. “Uh, not a whole lot,” Poseidon admitted. 

“Oh?” John asked, tilting his head to the side. “I’m sorry to hear it. Why not?”

Poseidon shrugged and placed his hands behind his head. “I don’t know...I think it’s made me more sensitive.”

“There’s nothing wrong with being sensitive,” John said quickly. Too quickly. It was so oddly fast that Posedon actually raised an eyebrow and looked at him funnily. John smiled sheepishly. “Sorry, that was fast wasn’t it? I don’t know why it was so fast.”

Poseidon broke out into a smile and relaxed his head against his pillow, staring up at the bars of the bottom bunk. “It’s alright. And yeah, that’s what Hades says...I don’t know. I just wished I didn’t cry so much. Half the time I don’t even know why I’m crying. Like—I obviously faced some sort of negative emotion, but I don’t know why I have it, y’know?” It was odd, opening up to John to that extent. He usually wouldn’t say that to anyone except Zeus and Hades, not even Will. Maybe it wasn’t personal enough for him to be too uncomfortable by it, or perhaps their situation was so uncomfortable that he would say anything just to keep the conversation going. Whatever. It was out now.

“Maybe it’s concussion related?” John asked. “I’ve never heard of that specific side effect, but mood swings are a symptom of a lot of things.”

Poseidon shook his head. “Nah. I was sensitive before that too. I think it’s just hormones.” He was going to say that he had always been more sensitive than most people perceived him, but he figured that would damage his ego a little too much. Besides: it  _ was  _ nothing compared to the amount he cries now. The amount of times he was sad was probably around the same, but at least he didn’t cry like a little baby. And, if he could give himself anything, he hadn’t in a while. If a week or so counted as a while.

John nodded and went silent for a moment, looking deep in thought. “Oh, yeah...I’ve been meaning to ask you.”

Poseidon looked up at him for a second, but then let his head fall back onto the pillow. “Oh? Shoot.”

“What’s your...uh...relationship with Hades like?”

Poseidon stared at him and cocked his head to the side. Part of him was almost offended: why was that any of John’s business? They weren’t close by any means. That much was obvious just by this conversation alone. At the same time though, Poseidon didn’t want to say anything and cause an argument. Him a few months ago would have laughed if you told him that, but John was like thirteen thousand feet tall and Poseidon didn’t have powers or authority which had made him so brave before. “Uh...it’s fine,” Poseidon said reluctantly. The urge to make a snarky comment was strong, but he pulled through. “Why?”

John fiddled with his hands. “Oh, just wondering.” A pause. “Like...how fine, though?”

Poseidon stared at him with brows furrowed.  _ What kind of question is that?  _ “Pardon me?”

John cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his neck, smiling to ease the tension.“Uh...like…’ He paused. “Can I be honest?” It was said as more of a statement, but Poseidon nodded uneasily anyway.  _ Where is this going…?  _ John looked ahead and sighed, shaking his head. “Are you and Hades dating?”

If Poseidon was drinking something, he would’ve spit it out. “Sorry,  _ what? _ ” It was almost a laugh, but completely out of shock.

John looked almost annoyed, huffing and rolling his eyes at the ceiling. It seemed kind of like the embarrassed kind of annoyed, though: red dusted his cheeks. “Don’t laugh. I just want to know. You don’t have to be embarrassed, I don’t care.”

_What the_ ** _fuck?_** Poseidon didn’t respond for a few moments; _couldn’t_ respond. _What?_ He opened his mouth and closed it a few times, each time only some weird noise that was somewhere between just a normal breath and “what” coming out. “I...Where did you get that idea from? No?”  
John’s eyebrows shot up to the ceiling. “You’re not?”

“No!” Poseidon exclaimed, brows furrowing. He shock-laughed again. “ _ What? _ ”

John looked almost relieved. “I...Oh. It’s just...during capture the flag, he seemed so protective of you…” John rubbed the back of his neck and laughed. “Sorry.”

Poseidon laughed as well, but still mostly out of shock. “Oh my god, yeah no. Hades is just protective of me because…” Why was Hades protective of him? Oh right, the Nico thing...He didn’t feel like telling John that would be a good move. “Because I’m small.” He tried not to cringe. It wounded his pride admitting it out loud, despite reminding himself every time he looked in the mirror.  _ You’re like half a centimetre away from being 6’0 as a god, chill. It’s only for like...nine more months. _

John laughed again. “Oh yeah, that makes sense. And you're his little brother and all.” John paused. “Wait, that sounds weird considering I just assumed you two were dating. I mean like...your god little brother—”

Poseidon’s cheeks set ablaze. “Yeah no I get what you mean. He’s my…” Poseidon was going to say brother, but that didn’t sound right. It hadn’t sounded right for a long time, but he couldn’t place why. By mortal standards they were and by god standards they  _ should’ve  _ been, considering if a god loves someone they would have to be close enough to be considered a brother. Or lover. But Hades wasn’t his lover. Poseidon shifted.  _ That doesn’t sound ri...don’t say it.  _ He shoved that thought into the back of his mind and pretended it never existed. It was easier than expected. “He’s my...friend.”

“Your friend,” John repeated. Another moment of silence. “He seems like more than a friend.”

Poseidon thought that too. It sounded weird rolling off his tongue. “A good friend. A really good friend.”

“Your best friend?”

Poseidon considered it for a moment. “Not my best, no. That implies I don’t like Zeus as much. That would be mean.”

John cocked his head to the side and looked at him curiously. “You like them both equally?”

Poseidon thought about it. Did he? He felt like he was closer to Hades, like he could tell him more things...but then again, he had been with Zeus for so long that the thought of losing him was scarier than anything in the world. “I love them in different ways,” Poseidon said eventually. “But yes. Equally.”

John stared ahead, at the other bunk bed. “That’s interesting. I thought you three hated each other.”

“We used to.” Poseidon looked away from John and up at the ceiling, intertwining his hands behind his head. “Not anymore.” More silence, only filled by heavy breathing. “The thought of losing them is terrifying.”

John looked at him, but was silent for a long while. “You really love ‘em, huh?”

Poseidon nodded.

John looked back at the other bunk bed. “I think it’s sweet.”

Poseidon lifted his head and looked at him, giving him a once over. “You do?”

John nodded. 

Poseidon let his head fall back down. He was debating saying something else about them, but he couldn’t think of what. “I think I love them more than I’ve ever loved anything,” he said eventually. It was more of a whisper, a statement to himself. It felt odd, saying it out loud. He’d never even thought it before. He’d thought that about a lot of people, about a lot of things. He never thought he’d love anyone more than Amphitrite, then Triton, then Sally, then Percy. But Zeus and Hades were just at some strange level that didn’t seem to be part of the game, more like the hardwiring of it, or perhaps the narrator. They were just always there. Always. Percy came awfully close, but he wasn’t as present as Zeus and Hades. That was mostly Poseidon’s fault. Well—almost completely Poseidon’s fault. If he could blame anything else it would be the ocean. But still, Zeus and Hades just had a place in his heart that he knew would never be replaced. He felt like it had always been there, but now it was obvious. Now it was beating properly with the rest of his heart.

John’s eyes lingered on him, but he did not respond to his statement directly. “Do you have a crush on someone?” The question came some time later, but not long enough to be significant.

Poseidon stared at the rungs of the top bunk. Did he? No. He didn’t think so. His sex drive was starting to pick up now with nothing to distract him and he found many people attractive, but as for romatic attraction? Not really. He didn’t think so, at least. He shook his head. “Not really. You?”

“Not really?” John asked, one eyebrow raised. Poseidon didn’t bother responding, simply nodding. John placed a hand on Poseidon’s ankle. “Well, I do.”

Poseidon smiled lightly.  _ Oh, teenage love. _ “Who is she?” He’d like to say he was only pretending to be interested, but he had secretly always liked petty drama. Something about knowing someone's crush brought so much satisfaction, no matter how old you were. Perhaps because it was more intimate than just who you found attractive, which so many of his relationships were based off of (for both parties, usually). It felt like an exchange of trust, more than anything. ‘I trust you enough to think that you’d tell me and you trust me enough to tell me’ kind of thing, you know?

John cleared his throat and lightened the pressure on his ankle. “Uh...it’s a him.” There was a definite silence after that, John taking a sharp inhale.

Poseidon smiled with amusement, though a little surprised. If he would’ve had to guess, he would have assumed John was as straight as an arrow. No pun intended. “Oh cool, I don’t care about that. I’m into guys too.” Though he had a pretty big preference for girls, the boys had been picking up their look game recently. He used to just have to pick from closested homophobes or bottoms with not a drop of dom in them. Not that Poseidon was a bottom. But he liked a little kickback at least. Zeus never minded that, but he did. Zeus just liked being in control of  _ everything.  _ It was almost irritating. Not that Poseidon had to worry about if Zeus was a top or not, of course.

John sighed with relief. Poseidon was mildly offended that John assumed he was homophobic: he had been bi  _ long  _ before John had. Even though that didn’t really make him any more valid because he’d just been alive for four thousand years, but still. Whatever. John replaced the light pressure back on his ankle. “Oh, okay cool. Sorry.”

Poseidon shifted his head to look at the boy. “So...who is it?”

John looked at him, amusement and an emotion Poseidon couldn’t quite put a finger on sparkling in his eyes. “You don’t know already?”

Poseidon’s eyebrows shot up. Was this old drama? Old tea, as Percy would say? He missed it. “No I don’t, I’m sorry.” He waggled his eyebrows. “Is he cute?” He suddenly  _ felt  _ like a teenager now, not just physically. He didn’t think he’d referred to someone as “cute” to mean attractive in his whole life.

John smiled, laughing lightly. “He is, yes.” John inched slightly closer.

“Who is it?”

John’s smile dipped slightly. “You really don’t know?”

Poseidon frowned. Oh, was he actually supposed to know? Had John told him while he wasn’t paying attention? “I...no, sorry.”

John rolled his eyes. “Oh my gods, you’re so dumb.” He hit Poseidon’s ankle lightly. “It’s Andr—”

The door slammed open. Poseidon nearly jumped out of his skin, screaming like a little girl. He whipped his head around, but instead of finding a dangerous hellhound or some other monster, he found Zeus with his face in his hands and a very confused and embarrassed Hades.

“What the _ fuck? _ ” Poseidon shrieked, falling back into John. “What are you two doing here? You scared the  _ shit  _ out of me!”

Hades smiled at him, his entire face beet red. “Oh. Uh…”

Poseidon’s heart pounded. He stared at him and tilted his head forward, waiting for an answer, the urge to scream again strong. 

Hades rubbed the back of his neck. “Uh...I thought you two were…”

“In trouble!” Zeus cut in. His face was the equivalent of a tomato. “We thought you guys were in trouble. We thought we heard something.”

Poseidon blinked at them. “Well...we aren’t. How did you hear it? Wouldn’t you have had to hear it from all the way across camp?”

Both Hades and Zeus went silent, pure guilt decorating both of their faces.

Poseidon stared at them for a little more, brain wracking. Why weren’t they answering? What on earth would they have heard?  _ How  _ on earth would they have heard it?

Oh.

Poseidon frowned. “Were you spying on us?”

Hades and Zeus remained silent, only sharing a glance and then looking away guiltily. Hades opened his mouth like he was going to say something, but nothing came out. Poseidon took that as a yes.

“Why were you spying on us?” he asked quietly. He could feel the awkwardness radiating off of John now, expect now it was because of confrontation instead of not knowing what to say.

Hades continued to open and close his mouth like a fish for a little while longer, but eventually sighed and slumped his shoulders. “I...We were worried about you. We knew you weren't real close with John and we were worried that he might’ve...made you uncomfortable. I’m sorry.”

Poseidon continued to frown at them. John seemed like he was about to retort, but Poseidon beat him to the chase. “Why would John have made me uncomfortable?”

“Well…” Hades shifted awkwardly and looked at Zeus for support.

Zeus seemed to grow a pair and nodded. “Uh...well, we’re aware that he...uhm…” he cleared his throat, “—made you cry your second day. And we didn’t know that you two were close, we thought that maybe he was being mean or something.”

Silence. So much silence. Awkward, thick silence. Poseidon didn’t know what to say, but the silence was too unbearable to not try. “I wouldn’t have let him in if I didn’t like him.” John looked at him, but he didn’t look back.

Hades shifted awkwardly. “I know. I’m sorry. We shouldn’t have...We should have gone in and let you know we’d be keeping an eye.”

“You shouldn't have been “keeping an eye” at all,” John piped up. Overall he sounded pretty confident, but there was an underlying tone of fear in his voice. Poseidon didn’t blame him: standing up to Hades was a scary thing. “Poseidon can do things without you two.”

Poseidon didn’t know how he felt about that: on one hand, he appreciated John standing up for him, but on the other he was talking back to his brothers. From an unbiased standpoint, John was in the right, but it was hard to take the bias out of it when Poseidon spent most of his time with Zeus and Hades. He didn’t say anything though; John was right. He would give him that.

Hades and Zeus exchanged a helpless glance. Hades looked a little more guilty than Zeus, while Zeus looked a little more scared than Hades.

“You’re right. I’m sorry. I...I don’t know what you want me to say,” Hades admitted. “I’m...I’m sorry, genuinely.”

Poseidon thought for a moment. On one hand: he was genuinely a little creeped out. If they were comfortable spying on him because of this, where did they draw the line? Did they spy on him all the time? Did they think that he was completely incapable of defending himself, of being on his own? But...on the other, Poseidon could see the outcome of this. The same format, the same tone to everyone’s voice, the same thickness to the air. This ended one way: someone gets hurt. Call Poseidon a wimp all you want (genuinely, because he is one), but he would take sucking it up and storing his anger away over getting his feelings hurt. After John showing him his stomach today, he didn’t think he could handle any comment on his appearance without breaking down over it. He didn’t know why it affected him so much: it was only abs. But still. Going from being attractive to ugly does a lot worse for your self esteem than pretty much anything else. It also meant that there would be too much tension between him and his brothers, so they wouldn’t visit him while he was on bed rest. He couldn’t afford to risk that. 

“I don’t like what you did,” Poseidon said eventually. “Don’t do it again. But it’s okay.”

Hades and Zeus stared at him with their eyebrows slightly raised for a long moment. Hades was the first one to break out into a smile, relief colouring his face like Poseidon just solved world hunger. Zeus followed suit, but more subtly, a smile growing on his face while still looking shocked. “It’s...okay?” Zeus asked.

Poseidon nodded, giving his own smile. “It’s okay.”

John blinked at all three of them. “Uh...that’s it?”

Poseidon turned and stared at him.

John put his hands up in surrender, suddenly looking scared. “I’m not telling you who to forgive or not! Just think it’s a little weird that it all got brushed over quickly. I woulda been pretty pissed.”

_ Well, they’ve done worse.  _ Poseidon didn’t say that out loud. The thought scared him a little bit. He didn’t want to think like that about his brothers.  _ You’ve done bad things too, don’t overthink it.  _ He nodded internally. “I don’t think it’s that big of a deal so long as they feel bad about it,” Poseidon said. “I’m sorry they eavesdropped though.”

John furrowed his brow at him like he had just said the dumbest shit he’d ever heard. “Why are  _ you  _ apologizing for  _ them? _ ”

Poseidon went silent. Why was he?  _ Uh...I don’t know. Maybe you just wanted to ease the tension? Yeah... _ **_No, you just didn’t know what else to say._ ** _ Shut up.  _ “Uh...I just…” he glanced at Zeus and Hades, equally as lost as they looked. “I don’t know. Just a habit.”

“You have to apologize for them so much it’s become a habit?” John asked, suddenly looking concerned and outraged rather than uncomfortable and confused.

“No!” Poseidon said quickly. He had the urge to put his hands up in surrender, but he refrained.“I just meant it’s a habit for me to do that in general.”

John narrowed his eyes and glanced at Hades and Zeus. “Alright…” 

“Hey, why don’t you get out?” Hades asked. It sounded like it would be angry, but his voice was so cool and smooth it came out as more of a polite demand. “Zeus and I will take care of Poseidon from here.”

Poseidon’s cheeks warmed slightly at that.

John screwed his face up. “Don’t tell me whether to get in or get out. That’s Poseidon’s job. If he wants me to leave, I’ll leave. You don’t get a say.”

Poseidon’s gut curled.  _ Oh no. _

“Poseidon didn’t want you in here in the first place,” Zeus piped up.  _ Oh no. He’s using his ‘trying to control his anger’ voice.  _ “Couldn’t you tell he was uncomfortable?”

“He’s right here, actually,” John argued, pointing to Poseidon. “You can ask him if he was without assuming. I came in here because I consider him a close colleague, beg my pardon that I care about the people I know.”

“You  _ came  _ here because Will told you to,” Hades argued, rolling his eyes. 

“Guys, stop it,” Poseidon said quietly. Where had this come from? Did John and his brothers have a feud that he didn’t know about? “How about you all get out and I get some sleep.”

John nodded and put his hands up in surrender again. “Alright, there you go.” He pushed off the small part of Poseidon’s shoulder that was leaning on his arm gently and then stood. He nodded at Zeus and Hades and then headed towards the door. “Let’s go, then.” He looked over his shoulder. “Goodbye, Poseidon. It was lovely talking to you.” He glanced down at Poseidon’s lower stomach. “Maybe, uh...we could do it again sometime.” He gave Poseidon one of those winks that was so quick you couldn’t tell if you imagined it or not. 

Hades did not look very pleased, face curling up into a snarl at John’s turned back. Poseidon was not sure which person made him blush more.

Hades gave him one glance and nodded his head, then turned swiftly and exited. Zeus followed suit, looking somewhat awkward. Poseidon didn’t blame him.

A few seconds passed. Shouting from outside.

Oh boy. Poseidon didn’t like the sound of that.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> P.S. I haven't forgotten John has a girlfriend, Poseidon has ;)  
> This chapter was a lil spicy, but not too spicy. The next chapter will be a little spicier. Also--was the dude in the hospital bed that wasn't Emma named Obed???? Im like,,,,,70 percent sure he was but. im a dumbass and I can't remember what chapter he showed up in. anyway. it doesn't really matter anyway, bc whether John actually likes him or not is up for debate ;)  
> Love you guys!!! Thanks for reading!!  
> Also--please point out grammatical errors! I don't think I did too well editing this time lol  
> Xx


	16. I got three bitches on me like the three musketeers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Poseidon thinks its bad John and Hades and Zeus are fighting. he says no no. they're like "ok". then Poseidon and Hades go to the infirmary for some bandages. and then u have to read to see hehehehehe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry this is so late y'all. remember when I said no other update would be as far apart as the one a few chapters back,,,,im sorry :((( If you follow my Tumblr you'll know this already, but for the first few days I was focusing on getting my original work done for my deadline which took about a week and a half, and then after that my uncle died and I found it hard to focus on my writing. I'm sorry :(((( I won't let it happen again, hopefully. thank you for understanding
> 
> ALSO!!!! this chapter's idea was given to me by @timetravel2hogwarts!!!!!! It's not exactly the same, sorry :(( But it's close!!! Thanks for the idea!!! :))
> 
> Hope you guys enjoy this chapter!!

**_Previously on ‘Really? Again? My poor salad’: “Oh boy. Poseidon didn’t like the sound of that.”_ **

Poseidon pressed his ear against the door. Shouting, increasing slowly in volume and anger, could be heard distinctly through the old wood. His brow furrowed, gut twisting into knots. The voices were recognizable: his brothers and John. Their anger-laced voices were just as familiar to him as their normal ones. Poseidon could almost see the spit flying around, but didn’t open the door to confirm his suspicions. He wasn’t sure he could.

“You better not have touched him you  _ bitc _ —”

“I didn’t! And frankly it’s a little concerning that’s the first thing you thought of considering he’s your  _ brother _ —”

“You’ve said it yourself that it’s different for us! At least  _ I  _ don’t barge into people’s cabins who I know are uncomfortable with my presence while they’re in a vulnerable state—”

“ _ Oh,  _ shut  _ up.  _ You’re making it sound like I  _ raped  _ him or something—”

Murmurs started to add on to the noise. Poseidon’s knuckles turned white against the wood as he pressed his ear closer to the door.

“Oh, don’t act like you’re the victim of all of this!” Zeus yelled. Poseidon cringed. He’d heard that one before.

“Well  _ who  _ is?” John’s voice sounded beyond exasperated, all high-pitched and cracky. “All I did was check up on him, which by the way  _ is my fucking job,  _ and you two are screaming at me like I just commited bloody fucking murder!”

Poseidon couldn’t take it any longer and slammed the door open, straightening. Dozens of eyes turned to him in an instant. He instinctively stiffened up, eyes widening a bit. He hadn’t realized how many people showed up. He walked off his little porch and down the stairs, looking between the two parties. All of them were red in the face, eyes cross and brows furrowed. Poseidon cleared his throat. “What’s going on here?” It came out quieter than he intended, almost a whisper.

All of three of them immediately changed their body language, looking at him like he was the best thing to ever grace this planet. He shifted. John took a step towards him. “Hey, you’re not supposed to be up—“

“Don’t go near him,” Hades snapped.

John turned to Hades with his arms thrown out wide, brows furrowed. “Oh what, I’m not allowed to check up on him? As a doctor?”  
“You’re not a doctor, you’re some kid who works in the infirmary,” Hades corrected. With a glare, he started towards Poseidon.

Poseidon took a step back and furrowed his brow at Hades. “Hades, stop being so rude.”

Hades looked at him for a second and his eyes softened. He glanced over at John, but quickly turned his attention back to him. “Sorry, Poseidon. I know you don’t like me fighting. I am just a little frustrated at the moment.”

“I know,” Poseidon acknowledged, “but you don’t need to insult one another. I’m not mad at either of you. And you should be apologizing to John, not me.”

Hades lifted an arm and pointed a finger at him, opening his mouth to say something, but then closed it. He let his arm fall, sighing. He still didn’t look over at John. “Right. My apologies, Johnathan.” His eyes became hard again and he finally did look over at John. “But don’t you dare go in his cabin alone with him again.” It was lower this time, more throaty. 

This time, John didn’t have a response, a flicker of fear entering his eyes. Hades had used his Hades-eyes. Poseidon almost had to look away himself. He had only had them used on him a few times, but those few times were not pleasant experiences, to say the least. One time during the war, one time when he had to visit him once in the underworld (before promptly being shooed away by that very look), and one time during the second titan war. He shivered just remembering it. He almost wondered if it was a special ability that came along with being god of the Underworld; even his glares weren’t quite as scary as Hades’. He felt a twinge of sympathy for John. 

There was a heavy silence that followed, where Hades continued to glare at John until he looked away. When he did, Hades turned towards Poseidon. His eyes were as soft as cotton, now. “But he’s right. You should get back to bed.”

Poseidon wanted to, but he stood his ground. “You three should talk this out,” he said, trying to not let any amount of shake seep into his voice. “I don’t want you fighting. I don’t even know what spurred this on.”

There was silence for a while, where John looked at Hades with a look of “are you going to tell him or am I?”. Poseidon also looked between them, waiting for an answer. Everyone else that had gathered also looked to be waiting for a response, ears perked up like bunnies. 

Finally, Zeus was the one to break first. “Oh, just spit it out. John here was acting like a creep towards Poseidon—”

John’s mouth fell open and he threw one arm up in Zeus’ direction. “I was  _ not _ —”

“Yes you were!” Zeus yelled, also throwing his hands out. He looked at John like he was out of his mind.

“ _ How was I being creepy? _ ”

“You…” Zeus paused, looking to be searching for the right word, mouth slightly pursed, “—you gave him a once over! You looked down at his dick!”

Poseidon’s cheeks seemed to catch on fire and he face palmed, both to cover the redness and also because of the fact that they had just started doing exactly what he told them not to do.  **_Was_ ** _ he looking...there? _

“I  _ wasn’t! _ ” John’s other hand came up to meet the one that was already raised. “I was just…” he also seemed to be looking for the right word, flourishing his hand as his lips pursed.

“Exactly!” Zeus said. “You can’t even make an excuse, creep!”  
Poseidon had never seen Zeus argue in such a high-pitched voice. As slightly amusing as it was, he closed his eyes briefly and held up a hand. “Guys! Guys! _Stop arguing._ Please.”

John crossed his arms and glared at Zeus, opening his mouth to say something else.

“John,” Poseidon said firmly, holding up a hand in his direction.

John rolled his eyes and closed his mouth with a snap, tucking his arms more firmly at his side. 

Poseidon exhaled, looking between them. “How about all of you go calm down. I’ll talk to you guys—” he looked at Zeus and Hades, “—at the campfire, and I’ll talk to John tomorrow at the infirmary—”

“You won’t be at the infirmary or the campfire,” John interrupted.

Poseidon paused and tilted his head as if to say “that’s true”. “Oh right, yeah. Good point. I’ll talk to you all some other time. As of right now, this obviously isn’t working.”

“Well I don’t know how you’re going to talk to me “some other time”,” John said snarkily. “Apparently I can’t even be in the same general vicinity as you according to these two.”

“ _ John, _ ” Poseidon said firmly.

John rolled his eyes again and leaned slightly on one hip.

Poseidon exhaled again, looking away from John and at Zeus and Hades, then back again, and then back again. “Okay. Are we all clear?”

Hades nodded stiffly, still glaring at John, just to a lesser degree. 

“Fine,” Zeus said reluctantly.

“Fine,” John repeated harshly, directed in Zeus’ direction.

Zeus looked like he was going to make another remark, but stopped himself and opted to just glare at John again. John gave him a smug, snarky smile.

Poseidon refrained from rolling his eyes and nodded again. “Okay. Now go.” 

John started walking towards the infirmary, in the direction of Zeus and Hades. 

Poseidon held up another hand instinctively. “In opposite directions, please.”

John looked at him for a moment, eyes twitching slightly, but then nodded with his jaw tight. Without another word, he stormed off in the other direction leaving Zeus, Poseidon and Hades alone with an over-curious group of teenagers.

Hades exhaled sharply through his nose and waved at them. “Oh, fuck off. All of you.”

They did just that, some letting out little squeaks as they ran. Most pretended like they weren’t scared, shoving their hands in their pockets and attempting to saunter away, but Poseidon saw the glimpse of fear in their eyes. At least Hades still had that: even if he got treated like shit at camp, they were at least scared of him enough to listen when he told them to fuck off. If Poseidon told someone to fuck off they would probably just laugh at him. 

Hades met his eyes one last time, with no emotion being held in them. His face was also blank, his posture stiff. He only made eye contact for a second, and nothing on his face changed to let Poseidon know that he was even aware they made eye contact. Zeus didn’t even bother to do that, instead storming off ahead of Hades without a glance back.

Poseidon’s gut sank. He didn’t like the feel of that.

***Time Break***

Three knocks on the door. 

Poseidon opened his eyes blearily, squinting at the door. “Hello?” His voice was raspy and quiet, barely audible. 

“Can I come in?” 

Hades. Poseidon blinked some more and sat up, rubbing his eyes as he turned on the other lamp on his bedside table, the one beside it already lit. “Yep, come in.”

Somehow, he heard it and entered the cabin quickly, shutting the door behind him. Poseidon didn’t blame him; it was pouring outside, winds gusting and slapping against the windows. Camp had one of these nights every three weeks to make sure everything was significantly watered. At least, that’s what Poseidon was told. The rain slammed against his windows like waves, occasionally rattling them unsettlingly. He was surprised he managed to sleep through it, but more surprised at the fact that Hades had managed to hear his raspy, quiet voice over all that noise.

Speaking of which, he used his raspy, quiet voice again. “What are you doing here? What time is it?” 

“It’s eleven,” Hades replied, peeling off his jacket and striding over with his back straight and neck tall. It woke Poseidon up a little bit, eyebrows raising at his own internal thoughts. Hades sat down next to him on the bed, folding his hands on his lap. “I couldn’t sleep.”

“Why not?” Poseidon asked, rubbing his eyes again. 

When he was done rubbing his eyes, Hades was looking at him with fondness and love in his eyes, but quickly looked away when he saw that Poseidon was staring. He cleared his throat. “I was thinking about earlier,” he said, an undertone of guilt colouring his voice. “I didn’t mean to upset you by arguing with John. You appear to have gotten closer, I didn’t mean to insult one of your friends.”

“Oh,” Poseidon said, smiling tiredly, “it’s alright. No worries. Can we go to bed now?” He opened his arms out wide and closed his eyes, wanting the talking to stop and the sleeping to start.

Hades laughed. “Well, I actually have two reasons for coming here. I was gonna ask if you had any bandages. I’m all out and I cut my finger.”

Poseidon sighed and let his arms flop back down onto the bed. “Oh. No, I don’t think I do. We can go to the infirmary tomorrow. Come sleep for now.”

Hades chuckled nervously. “No, I don’t think you understand: I just cut it, it’s quite bad.”

Poseidon’s eyes snapped open faster than you could say “concerned”. He scrambled to sit up and looked at Hades with eyes as wide as dinner plates. “You did it on  _ purpose? _ ” 

Hades’ eyes grew panicked and he held up his hands in surrender. “I—what? No! Well, I mean—but no!”

Poseidon actually ended up not paying attention, instead focusing all of the little energy he had on one of Hades’ fingers, which he was still holding up in a surrendering position. It was gushing blood, spilling all over his palm and back of his hand. It was almost as if he had dipped his hand in a bucket of red paint.

Poseidon scrambled off the bed and held Hades’ hand up to his face. “Oh my gods. Then what happened? Are you alright?” He was suddenly awake, on high alert.

Hades laughed awkwardly. “There’s a jagged piece on my bedside table. I couldn’t sleep anyway so I got up to go to your place and cut my finger on the way out.”  
Poseidon wasn’t really paying attention, instead scanning the room for clothes to throw on. He was only wearing a hoodie and briefs now. “Alright, alright, oh my gods.” He snatched up a pair of sweatpants and struggled until they were pulled on all the way. “Okay, let’s go. Holy shit.”

Hades placed a hand on his shoulder as soon as he straightened. “Relax, I’ll be alright. You have a concussion, you can’t go out.”

Poseidon relished in the warmth of the hand on his shoulder for a moment, but then walked to the door and swung it open quickly. “I know, I know, but you’re bleeding. I can do what I want.” The wind and rain on his face felt like a slap and he stumbled backwards, eyes blowing out wide. He ran right back into Hades’ chest.

Hades chuckled and placed his hands on Poseidon’s shoulders. “Bad out, isn’t it? I think the fact you’re not wearing shoes might make it worse, though.”

The large hands on his shoulders sent shivers up his spine. He looked down at his feet, bare of any socks or shoes.  _ Oh yeah, that would be important.  _ He smacked Hades lightly and scrambled over to his shoes, kicking them on. They were near the door, so rain hit him lightly. He scrunched his nose up.

Once his shoes were on, he straightened and turned to Hades with a smile. “Okay! Let’s go now.”

Hades’ eyes were beyond amused as he looked at him and walked over. “Alright.”

Poseidon was the one to break eye contact and walked out the door, immediately screwing his face up. Not only was the rain heavy, but it was ice cold too. The wind made it hard to breathe, too much pressure on his face at once. He pulled his hood up, but it didn’t help much.

The door shut behind him and Hades threw an arm over his shoulders. He snuggled in close and they walked off the patio and down the steps. Hades took his arm off his shoulders and grabbed the outside of his jacket, then wrapped it around Poseidon like a blanket. “Nice day, isn’t it?” he yelled.

Poseidon snorted. “Oh yeah, you know it!”

The denim of the jacket provided a good shield, while the softness of Hades’ hoodie provided warmth. (Poseidon didn’t quite mind the rain so much, now).

Apparently, Hades did. 

About halfway to the infirmary, Hades removed his jacket from around Poseidon and started sprinting. “Ah fuck it, it’s too cold for this shit.” 

Poseidon laughed and followed after him, missing the little bit of warmth Hades provided already. Nonetheless, he kicked up mud as he ran, wind making him squeeze his eyes closed until nearly shut as he ran. His cheeks were stinging, his calves burning up a storm. But nonetheless it paid off in the long run, because he was soon on the porch of the infirmary shaking water out of his hair. Hades was already there and Poseidon nearly ran into him, but Hades just flipped around and pulled him into a hug, laughing. He laughed too, squeezing his cheek into Hades’ chest. Hades pulled back after just a moment too long and looked up at the infirmary’s walls. “So how do we get in this place?”

Oh. 

_ Oh, shit. _

“Oh my god, we ca—”  
Hades ignored him and pressed the door handle down. Miraculously, the door swung open at his touch. Poseidon blinked. For some reason, the infirmary was left unlocked. Hades looked back at him with a questioning look in his eyes, which Poseidon only returned with an equally confused shrug. Hades shrugged too and walked into the infirmary, switching the lights on. “Hello?” he called. No one answered. Hades looked back at him one more time and shrugged again.

Poseidon returned the shrug and followed. Though Poseidon was technically staff now, it still felt odd coming in here. It felt like they were breaking some kind of rule, though he never heard anyone specify he couldn’t come to the infirmary after hours. He almost wanted to tell Hades to shut the lights off so no one would see them, but he refrained. He briefly worried about any patients being in here, but then remembered that they had started letting Emma go to her cabin at night. No one should be here.

“Okay, where do they keep the bandages?” Hades asked, looking around curiously.

“In the supply room,” Poseidon said, walking towards it. He paused halfway through, spotting something odd on one of the beds. It was a small black lump of something, but he couldn’t tell what...he squinted further. It looked vaguely similar to... _ Oh my. _ Poseidon’s cheeks warmed a little. One of Nico’s t-shirts. 

Poseidon had a feeling he knew why the doors were unlocked. Will might have been a little…distracted.

Poseidon picked up his pace to keep up with Hades, trying to distract him from the article of clothing. It was a miracle he hadn’t seen it already. Nico and Will had done a lot for Poseidon, the least he could do is try and prevent them from being chewed out by Hades.

It seemed that the front door was not the only thing Will had been too distracted to lock, because the supply room door was ever so slightly ajar, about half a centimetre still open. He swung it open as well, quickly shoving Hades in and closing the door behind them. He forgot to switch on the lights beforehand and haphazardly slid his hand along the wall until he found the switch, flicking it on. The room was instantly bathed in light, every little nook and cranny visible. Well. Kind of. The light was actually pretty dim.

Nonetheless, Poseidon headed to the back corner of the supply room where they held the bandages. He’d always found it weird that they kept the most high-demand item the farthest away from the door, but it’s not like he would say anything. He didn’t spend much time thinking about it and went on his tip-toes, extending his arm to retrieve a pack of bandages. Just as he grasped a box in his hand, the light flickered. Poseidon’s lips pursed and eyes widened as he looked at Hades, chuckling a little bit. “Oooohhh.”

Hades snorted. “They’ll probably go out completely soon. It’s pretty bad out there.”

He came off his tip toes. “Will told me that their rain days aren’t usually this bad, but because Zeus and I aren’t up there to keep things under control he thinks they go a little wild. I was under the impression that I was the only one who could cause them in the first place, but I guess some other douchebag is up there doing it for me.” He examined the box in his hand as he walked over to Hades briskly. 8 bandages. He tore the box open and retrieved one, frantically removing the paper from the sticky bandage.

Hades chuckled. “How do you know he’s a douchebag?”

“Because he’s taking my spot.” Poseidon grabbed Hades’ injured hand and wrapped the bandage tightly around the wound. Hades’ fingers were long and slightly spindley, nails dull and short. Miraculously, he had gotten a slight tan during his stay at camp, but Poseidon was still darker. He made sure the bandage was correctly placed and as tight as possible, ensuring that enough pressure was on the wound. It was in an odd spot, on the side of his middle finger all the way from the top of his nail to his knuckle. 

There was an odd beat of silence, where both of them knew Hades had to say something but held his tongue. Poseidon felt his eyes on him, but he just continued to examine the bandage, pretending to add some final perfecting touches.

“Do you always stick your tongue out when you concentrate?”

Poseidon looked up. “What?”

Hades had a very fond kind of amusement in his eyes. “You were sticking your tongue out the whole time you were putting the bandage on my finger.”

Poseidon’s cheeks warmed and he scrunched his face up. “No I wasn’t.”

Hades chuckled again. “Yes you were.”

“No I wasn’t.”

“Yes you were.”

“No.”

“Yes.”  
Poseidon stuck his face closer to Hades’. “No.”

Hades returned the favour. “Yes.”

Again. “No.”  
Ditto. “Yes.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“Yes.”

Hades smirked.

Poseidon blinked. Suddenly he was acutely aware of the fact that he and Hades were so close, the fact that their breath mingled with one another's. He was close enough to pick up the ring around Hades’ pupil that was just the  _ slightest _ bit of a lighter black, barely even a brown. But it was lighter. Hades’ nose was slightly more roman than his was, but still not quite the full blown one like Jason. His eyelashes were thick and dark, the same as Poseidon. His breath smelled like mint toothpaste, felt cold as he inhaled it. He glanced down at his lips...Poseidon pulled back, clearing his throat and blinking rapidly. “I, uh…” he coughed, “I mean no.”

Hades also leaned back, rubbing the back of his neck and chuckling. “Heh, yeah, but you said yes.”

“By accident.”

“But you still said it.”

Poseidon exhaled through his nose as a laugh and rubbed the back of his neck too. The awkwardness in the air was almost painful, making him involuntarily cringe. “Heh. Yeah, I guess. Shut up, whatever.”

Hades chuckled again. “Alright, well, we got what we needed. Might as well go now.” He walked towards the door, non-injured hand already extended to turn the handle. 

Poseidon followed after him, cheeks still burning a little bit. Hades turned the handle and leaned his body against the door. 

It didn’t budge.

Poseidon’s brow furrowed and he stopped himself from running into Hades’ back. “What’s happening?”

Hades pushed his body against the door, this time with more force. “I don’t know. It’s not…” he slammed against the door again, “—budging. Did it lock somehow?”

Distantly, Poseidon remembered Will unlocking the door from the outside. It was one of those doors that you locked from inside the building, then stepped out and closed it.  _ Shit.  _ “It locks from the outside,” Poseidon said, gut sinking. “We locked ourselves in when we shut it. Will must've gone to lock it but forgot to completely close it when he left.”

“Oh,” Hades said, no such dread in his voice, “then we’ll go out the other way. No problem.”

As he walked by, Poseidon grabbed his bicep. ( ~~It felt kind of nice~~ ). “No, wait.” He shifted. “You’ll get beat to death by a bunch of trees if you go that way. They designed it so only Apollo kids can go that way, remember?”

Hades’ brow furrowed. “How did they do that?”

Poseidon shrugged. He actually hadn’t thought about it. “I don’t know, but they did it.”

“And you can’t? Wouldn’t you be able to since you work at the infirmary and all?”

Poseidon shook his head. “No, it’s only Apollo kids. I work here, but I’m not an Apollo kid so I can’t go through myself. That’s why John takes me up, remember?”

Hades straightened, lips pursing a little bit. “Oh. Right.” 

Poseidon shrunk a little. He didn’t like that tone. 

Hades glanced at the door, and then back at the other door. “So then what are we going to do?”

Poseidon mimicked him, eyes lingering on the door back to the infirmary. “I...I don’t know.”

“Wait until someone comes in, I guess,” Hades said, sighing. “This will be a fun one to explain.” 

Poseidon laughed nervously. “Yeah…Are you sure you can’t like, pick the lock or something?” He wanted to go to bed…Plus, small spaces were never his thing. Ever. Especially dimly lit ones.

Hades rammed his body against the door again. “Nah. Don’t have anything to pick it with, and I don’t know how.”

Poseidon’s gut sank. The light flickered overhead, and it sank deeper. Their only way out was the door that led to the walkway, but he didn’t feel like getting beat to death either. His body was suddenly stiff, his limbs planted at his sides and his feet planted to the ground. He didn’t like this. He didn’t like this one bit. The shelves were too close together, the room was too crowded, too dark.

The lights flickered.

The lights went out.

Poseidon gasped quietly. He tried to calm himself down immediately, knowing what was about to come, but to no avail. His heart began to pound, his blood rushed in his ears. Suddenly, the air was too warm and heavy, too hard to breathe. His chest warmed and tightened, but not in a good way. Instead of a fuzzy feeling, it was as if someone had poured molten steel into his chest, blocking his airway and catching his heart on fire. Everything felt clogged, the walls were slowly pushing in on him, and he couldn’t breathe properly anymore. He shut his eyes tightly. 

Behind his eyelids, a scene appeared. 

It was a little fuzzy, the background blurry and bodies unclear, but the faces…Oh, the faces. He saw them clear as day. Hades, Hera, Demeter, Hestia, all looking at him with fond amusement in their eyes, hair matted and faces dirty. They were all gaunt, features pale and sunken in. All of their hair was long, but Hestia and Hades’ were the longest, close to their thighs. Around them was darkness, only the little bit of light radiating from Hestia’s palms illuminating the “room”. He could briefly smell the scene, too: rotting flesh, sweat, blood, and acid. They were all young, but looked much older. Hades’ shoulders were just starting to broaden, along with his sisters’ hips and chests. He was the youngest there, he hadn't started puberty yet. Though his time in their father’s stomach was long and dreadful, he could only remember little bits, those special moments when Hestia gathered enough energy to supply them with light. He remembered being coddled to sleep every night, told stories of what they were going to do when they got out. Travel the world, whatever it looked like. Have a proper meal. Dance in the rain. Whatever they so desired. They made up their own language there, but he’d forgotten it by now. All he remembered was “Achalla”: I love you. He had used that one quite a lot.

Poseidon snapped his eyes open. It was still dark. The scene reappeared. “Oh no,” he whispered, “oh no, oh no, oh no…”

Footsteps. “Damn,” Hades said. Poseidon could tell he was looking up at the ceiling. “Lights went out. Whatever, we should probably try to sleep anyway.”

Poseidon ignored him, struggling for breath. His hands started cramping and getting clammy, he couldn’t move if he tried. Hades’ footsteps stopped. “Hey...are you alright?”

“I don’t like the dark,” Poseidon managed to choke out. It felt odd coming out, like it got caught in his throat and just managed to break through.

Hades’ footsteps hesitated for another second, but then came towards him quickly. Soon, Hades had him in his arms, chin resting on his head. “What? I didn’t know that. Are you alright?”

‘Yeah, I’m fine’ was instinctively about to come out of his lips, but he paused. After a moment, he shook his head.

“No?” Hades asked.

Poseidon shook his head again. “No.”

Hades squeezed him tighter. “Oh...Okay, alright, alright. It’s okay. Calm down.”

Poseidon was too panicked to feel embarrassment and dug his face into Hades’ chest, desperately gasping for air. Hades put one hand on the back of his neck. “Hey...hey. Breathe with me, alright?” He took a deep breath and Poseidon’s head moved with his chest.

Poseidon nodded, attempting to mimic the movements. It took a while, but his breathing eventually evened out. When it did, Hades didn’t let go, only sunk to the floor. Poseidon went down with him. 

“Come sit here.” He patted the floor.

Poseidon couldn’t tell where exactly he patted, but going by his ears he assumed it was in front of Hades, between his legs. Poseidon didn’t hesitate, shifting his body so his back was leaning against Hades’ chest. Hades wrapped his arms around Poseidon, quietly shushing in his ear. Poseidon wished Zeus was there, but then again he didn’t. He had a small inkling Zeus would judge him a little bit. He didn’t feel that with Hades. Maybe he was being Zeus-phobic. Maybe not. Maybe Zeus was being Poseidon-phobic. 

Poseidon placed his ear against Hades’ chest, furrowing his brow and trying to maintain a stable breathing pattern. It was better now, with Hades so close to him. Though it brought him memories from their father’s stomach, especially considering they both looked similar to how they did then (Poseidon a little older now), they were fonder ones. Not fond, but fonder. He relished in the warmth Hades brought. He could also hear rain, thunder and the rustle of leaves from outside, something he could never in his father’s stomach.

“Why are you afraid of the dark?” Hades asked quietly.

Poseidon didn’t speak for a moment, snuggling in closer to Hades’ chest. “I thought you would’ve known.”

Hades rested his chin on Poseidon’s shoulder. Poseidon felt his gaze on him. “Should I have?”

Poseidon closed his eyes, resisting the images that followed and focusing on the noise outside and the feeling of Hades’ arms. “No, I suppose not. You would be used to it by now, I assume.”

“What, the dark?”

Poseidon nodded. “Because of the Underworld.”

“Yeah. But you haven’t told me why yet.” Hades turned more towards Poseidon.

Poseidon could feel his breath on his cheek. He swallowed lightly. “Dad’s stomach.”

Hades was quiet for a moment, but Poseidon could feel the almost realization in the air. “Oh…” It was a whisper.

Poseidon bit the inside of his cheek. “I’m surprised you don’t feel the same way.” His voice was still a little shaky.

Hades didn’t reply, arms wrapping tighter around Poseidon. “Is that why you never came to visit?”

“What?”

“The Underworld.” Hades stared at the side of his face. “Is that why you never came down?”

Poseidon opened his eyes. Was that the reason? Most of it was the fact that he thought Hades hated him (and rightfully so), but there was another aspect of it...Every time he thought about it, his gut sank to his shoes. His shoulders tensed. His fight or flight kicked in. He’d never made the connection, but…“I mean, I just thought you hated me. But yeah, that could be part of it.”

Hades didn’t reply. Poseidon assumed it was because he didn’t know how.

“Why did it not bother you?” Poseidon asked, leaning his head on Hades’ shoulder. “At first, at least. I thought it would’ve affected you even more.”

“What would?”

“The dark.”

Hades shifted a little bit, silent. After a moment, he moved his face closer to Poseidon’s. “I didn’t like it at first, I don’t think. It’s a fuzzy memory, but I remember feelings of discomfort and fear at the thought of being in the dark again. I just think I got over it.”

Poseidon nodded, guilt sweeping through him. Though he did think it was terrible that Hades was being forced to spend all his time in the Underworld, he hadn’t thought about that certain element of it. He went from darkness to just more darkness. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t start this again,” Hades said. “It wasn’t your fault and you already apologized.”

“I’m also sorry for not visiting.”

“You also already apologized for that.”

“But do you forgive me?”

Hades was silent for a moment and Poseidon’s gut sank, suddenly acutely aware of the amount of pressure Hades’ arms were placing on him. If they lightened even the tiniest amount, he would freak…“I want to say yes,” Hades responded eventually. “I love you and I don’t love you any less because of it.” A beat of silence. “But I suppose it does still hurt a little.” It trailed off to a whisper at the end, informing Poseidon that it wasn’t an easy thing to admit.

Poseidon nodded, swallowing heavily. “I’m sorry.”

“You’ve already said that. I’ve forgiven you, but I don’t think any amount of apologies will make it stop hurting.”

Poseidon swallowed again, this time fighting the development of a lump in his throat. “So there’s nothing I can do?”

Hades shook his head. “There’s nothing I want you to do. I love you now more than I’ve ever loved you, Poseidon.” Though barely noticeable, there was a slightly odd tone to it. As if there was a double meaning, something Poseidon wasn’t picking up on. Poseidon elected to ignore it. It was small enough, anyway.

Poseidon’s attempts were in vain, because the lump appeared fully. This time it was for a different reason. “I love you, too.” A beat of silence. “More than anything.” He whispered it, but he knew Hades heard.

Hades turned his face more towards his. He shifted his face to mimic it. Though his eyes were not fully adjusted, he could make out the slight shine to Hades’ eyes. The rest of his face was mostly dark, only his prominent features visible. Their breath mingled. He was not sure how long they stared at each other, but soon his eyes shifted down to Hades’ lips. Almost naturally, he moved a little closer.

Hades shot away so fast Poseidon blinked in surprise. Hades cleared his throat quietly, trying to cover up his drastic pull away. “We should probably get to sleep, no sense in staying up all night or trying to get out again.”

Poseidon’s eyes lingered on him for a while longer, brows furrowed. Eventually, he looked away. “Oh, yeah. Right. Good idea.” 

He shifted his head so it rested on Hades’ chest again. Hades wrapped his arms around Poseidon tighter and Poseidon felt him swallow. Poseidon closed his eyes, brows still furrowed. He couldn’t tell whether he was more confused about Hades’ reaction or the fact that he moved in closer to Hades’ lips. Had he wanted to kiss him? That was odd…Hades must’ve thought so too, considering he pulled away so fast. Strange. Why had he done that?

He drifted to sleep with a feeling of disappointment, though he couldn’t pinpoint exactly why.

  
  
  
  
  
  


  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's so close to 12 AM ahhhh I want to get this up before the 29th lol  
> thanks for reading!!!! Love you!!!  
> Also: don't worry, there will be lots of Zeus next chapter!  
> !!!!Please comment ideas if you have them!!!!!! I always appreciate it!!!!!!!  
> Xx


	17. uh idk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> nothing much happens again :(((( I need to engage certain plot points but I can't without them having proper build up so it's mostly just monologues for now teehee. I will address that later in the notes tho so !!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PLEASE READ NOTES AT THE END!!! after ur done reading the chapter but yea teehee. Sorry for the three-week apart update again :( That's becoming the norm innit, my bad. hope u like it anyway!

**_Previously on ‘Really? Again? My poor salad’: “_ ** **_He drifted to sleep with a feeling of disappointment, though he couldn’t pinpoint exactly why.”_ **

Poseidon woke up to the sound of laughter. He grunted, brow furrowing. It was too early; it was always too early. The laugh was familiar, though vaguely. Like he knew the person but didn’t know their laugh. He squinted his eyes open. 

Nico. 

Nico and Will specifically, but Will wasn’t laughing, simply looking at Poseidon with utmost confusion. Poseidon stared back at him, blinking heavily a few times. Hades grunted and shifted behind him. It took him a moment to register what was happening, but when he did, he snorted and smiled. “Ah, shit.”

Will started laughing too. “Now  _ what,  _ may I ask, is going on here?”

Poseidon yawned and pulled away from Hades. “Sorry. We came in here last night for—” he yawned, “—for bandages, but we got stuck. Y’all didn’t close any of the doors.” He gave them a look. 

Nico stopped laughing, which made Poseidon start. Will’s cheeks burned red, which spurred Poseidon on further.

Hades pushed himself off the ground into a standing position. “What’s happening? Did I miss something?” His voice was scratchy and deep, still laced with drowsiness.

“Nope, not at all,” Poseidon said, winking quickly at the pair in front of them. He turned and held up his hands for Hades to hold. “Help me up.”

Hades did so, but overdid it a little bit and Poseidon ended up crashing into him. The events of last night snuck into his head and he blushed, walking back quickly. Though they technically didn’t kiss, it still felt like something odd had happened between them regardless. Poseidon knew Hades was thinking about it as well, though he didn't know how. Maybe it was just the new awkwardness in the air. 

“Hold on.” Will placed one hand on his hip and pointed the other at him. “You’re not supposed to be up.”

Poseidon froze, staring at Will like a deer caught in headlights.  _ Oh no. _ He smiled stiffly. “Hehe…whoops?”

Will huffed and placed the other hand on his hip to match. “Poseidon.”

Poseidon continued to stare with his fake smile, slowly dying on the inside. “Will.” 

Will continued to glare at him, and he did a little weird, bent peace sign thing that he always saw Hazel doing. Nico broke out into laughter again. Will wasn’t laughing. “Poseidon, concussions aren’t something to joke about.”

Poseidon put his hands up in surrender. “I know, I know. I’m sorry. I’ll go right home and do as you told me.”

Will still had not stopped glaring at him. “And you’re gonna do it for one more day, too.” Before Poseidon could protest, Will turned to Hades and pointed at him. “And  _ you. _ ”

Hades’ eyebrows raised and he pointed at himself. “Me?”

Will nodded, eyes narrowing. “Yes you. Why did you let him go?”

Hades also put his hands up in surrender. “Listen man, I tried to stop him—”

“Oh,  _ barely _ —” Poseidon said, rolling his eyes.

“I did!” Hades protested. He looked back at Will. “And you know what he told me? He said: ‘I do what I want’.”

“I did  _ not _ say that—”

“Well maybe not  _ exactly  _ that, but similar to it—”

“Ladies, ladies,” Nico piped up. “Calm down.”

Poseidon mock-glared at him and scrunched his face up. Nico snickered. Will smacked Nico lightly on the arm. “Don’t encourage him.”

Nico looked Poseidon dead in the eyes. “I do what I want.” He said it in a voice that Poseidon assumed was attempting to mock him: deeper than usual with a slight Greek accent. Or at least, Poseidon assumed he was trying to do a Greek accent. It was more French. Poseidon wasn’t sure if Nico could hear properly. Nonetheless, he scrunched his nose up at him.

The door swung open further. John poked his head in. “What’s happening in here?” He looked over at them, and when he spotted Hades his face dropped. “Oh. What’s he doing here?”

“You can address me,” Hades said blankly. 

“What?”

“You can ask _me_ what I’m doing here.”

John rolled his eyes. “What are you doing here, Hades?”

“I came to look for bandages, thank you for asking.”

Poseidon shifted uncomfortably.

“Okay, whatever.” John was just about to leave, but then did a double take and looked at Poseidon. “Hold on, what’s shorty doing here?”

Poseidon pretended he didn’t think the nickname was funny and rolled his eyes. “I was with him getting bandages.”

“You’re supposed to be—”

“—in your cabin. I know, I know.” Poseidon sighed and waved his hand. “Will was just lecturing me.”

John grinned. “Well, I think you meant to say ‘my cabin’, but my one’s fine too.” He winked.

Hades stiffened. Poseidon snorted, but his face burned. He hoped no one noticed. 

Apparently, his hopes were in vain. Will and Nico’s eyebrows shot up and Nico gave him a look that was like ‘ _ girlllll…? _ ’ without actually saying it. Before a thing could come out of either of their mouths, Poseidon spoke. “Yeah, I meant mine. But...yeah, heh.” He blushed further. He hadn’t meant “yeah” as in like...agreeing to that... _ no, wait— _

John’s eyebrows raised too and his smile grew cheeky. “Alright, alright. Well, still...unfortunately you can’t come over, you have to rest.” He sighed overdramatically. “Maybe some other time, shorty.”

Poseidon knew he meant shorty as in like—short, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that he was just being called a girl. 

That, however, was not the only thing John left him thinking about.

John was...flirty. Very flirty. And for what? As far as Poseidon knew, he and John had just started to not-hate each other. There had to be some other explanation…First of all, didn’t he have a crush on Andre? Poseidon was pretty sure that’s what he said before they were interrupted. Also, Hades was there and he knew Hades was protective of Poseidon, so it might’ve just been some weird dig…

Still, the air he left was a mess of emotions. Awkwardness, surprise, embarrassment, jealousy, overall tension… 

Nico was the one to break the silence. “Are you...gay?”

Poseidon blinked, still staring off into space. “Half.”

Nico looked at Will. “He’s bi.”

Will looked back. “I know right?”

“Wow.”

“Wow.” 

Poseidon ignored them. “Anyway, I should probably be getting back now, right?”

Will’s ears perked up. Or, they did the equivalent of perking up. “Yes! Good idea—”

“Hold on,” Nico said, holding up a hand. “Are we just going to ignore the fact that Poseidon and that John dude just flirted? Like, hardcore? Isn’t he like 17?”

Poseidon’s heart dropped.

“He’s twenty,” Will corrected. “Turning twenty-one in like a month I think.”

Poseidon’s heart raised back up.

“I second that, actually,” Hades said, placing a hand on Poseidon’s shoulders. “What’s his problem?”

Nico looked like he was having a mild crisis. “Hold on, then isn’t it weird that he likes Poseidon because Poseidon looks like 16 now—”

“Hold on, who said he likes me?” Poseidon asked.

Will closed his eyes and put his hands on his temples. “There are like three conversations happening at once—”

“It’s weird that he likes Poseidon in  _ general— _ ”

“Also isn’t it weird that he’s in the Apollo cabin when there’s, like, eight year olds in there? They should have separate cabins for adults—”

“Wait when did he say he likes me? Am I missing something here—?”

“Oh, shut up Poseidon. Why would he flirt with you if he didn’t like you—”

“I think it’s because there’s not enough funding. And also most campers don’t make it to adulthood—”

“Maybe he has a thing for older guys or something. But then again Poseidon doesn't look old now—”

Will looked like he was going to pass out. “Guys! Guys! Stop talking. All the noise is bad for Poseidon.” He turned to Poseidon and addressed him specifically, putting his hands back on his hips. “Please go back home, Poseidon, we don’t need you being stuck in your cabin for three thousand days now, do we?”

Poseidon shook his head and headed towards the main part of the infirmary. “No we don’t, okay let’s go.”

Nico opened his mouth and Will slapped a hand over it. Poseidon snickered as he exited the Supply room, Hades following hot on his heels. His hand was still on Poseidon’s shoulder. When they got out to the main part of the infirmary, Hades slung his whole arm over Poseidon’s shoulders. John looked up from where he was checking out one of the bedside tables and raised an eyebrow. He looked back down. As they approached, Poseidon feared that John might make a snarky comment that would spark another fight, but no such thing happened. All he said was: “Bye, shorty. Rest up well for me, buddy.”

Poseidon swallowed and nodded as Hades’ hand tightened around his shoulder. “I will, thanks. See you soon.”

“See you soon, hopefully.”

Poseidon couldn’t tell if it was supposed to be ominous or flirty. He was pretty sure it was supposed to be the latter and just ended up sounding like the former. Nonetheless, he still moved his feet quicker. Emma was on one of the beds now and he gave her a little wave, smiling. She waved back with a smile.

When they exited the infirmary, Hades still did not remove his arm from around Poseidon’s shoulders. “Who was she?”

“Emma. She’s a regular, recovering from some kind of eating disorder. Anorexia, I think.”

Hades frowned and hummed. “Shame.”

“Yeah. She’s nice.” Poseidon was about to say that she defended him from John, but something told him that would not be the best thing to bring up. 

“Seems young, too.”

“Yeah.”

They fell into silence. Poseidon couldn’t tell if it was awkward or not. Though it wasn’t comfortable, it wasn’t exactly tense either. Poseidon could tell Hades was thinking about something, and he had a feeling he knew what about. John. Being honest, Poseidon was thinking about him too. He couldn’t tell what John’s intentions were. Poseidon was still stuck on the fact that he liked Andre…Also, why would John go for him? There were plenty of other options…Though the selection of campers above 18 was limited, Poseidon was sure he could find someone. But even regardless of that, it didn’t make sense…

“Doesn’t he have a girlfriend?” Hades asked.

Poseidon didn’t have to ask who he was talking about. “Hm?”

Hades looked down at him. “He has a girlfriend. Tall african-american girl. I think her name’s Carly. Her hair’s blond, not sure if she dyed it or not though.”

Poseidon’s brow furrowed. He recognized that name and he recognized the fact that it was linked to John, yet he couldn’t quite put a finger on it…He racked his brain trying to remember, and…

_ John smiled and gave a light laugh. “Yeah.” An awkward pause. “My girlfriend wanted to apologize to you too, but she didn’t have the confidence. Her name’s Carly, she’s an Athena kid. So...yeah, she’s sorry, I guess. For treating you bad at first.” _

It only made Poseidon’s brow furrow further. “Well now it makes even less sense…” 

Hades seemed pleased with this reaction, though Poseidon didn’t know why. “So do you like him?”

Poseidon looked up at Hades. “What?”

Hades was attempting to look casual and failing. “Do you like him? John, I mean. Romantically.”

Poseidon rubbed the back of his neck, but had to move his hand further up the back of his head so he wouldn’t disturb Hades’ arm. “Oh, I don’t know…” He swallowed. Did he?  _ No. Nah. _ “No. No, I don’t think so.”

This time, Hades did not seem pleased with his answer, though he tried to hide it. “You don’t know? What do you mean you don’t know?” A little amusement entered his voice, but Poseidon could tell it was a little bit forced. “How can you not know if you like someone or not?”

Poseidon shrugged, laughing uncomfortably. “I don’t know. I just…don’t…know.” Wow, Shakespeare over here. He laughed again. “Again, I don’t think so, it’s just…” He swallowed. He supposed John was kind of cute. “I don’t know.” He whispered it this time. He couldn’t tell if he actually liked John or if he was just horny. Because looking back, John never made his heart flutter, he just made him blush. In fact, he made Poseidon a little uncomfortable. That should’ve been enough explanation for Poseidon to figure that he didn’t like John, but that didn’t sound right. He must’ve liked him a little bit. “A bit, I guess. But I wouldn’t date him.” Yeah, that sounded right.

“Why not?” Hades asked. His voice and eyes were guarded.

“I don’t know.” He’d been saying that a lot. “I just don’t like him to that extent.”

“So you would just fuck him?”

Poseidon’s eyebrows shot up. The tone was almost angry. He looked over at Hades and just caught a glimpse of stormy eyes before they were shielded once more. “I...what? Do  _ you  _ like him or something?”

Hades’ face scrunched up. “What? No. Why would  _ I _ like him?”

“You seem very angry at the fact I want to fuck him.”

“So you do!” Hades' eyes were stormy again as they snapped over to Poseidon.

“I—what? No! That’s not what I meant!" he said hastily. "I just meant you seem angry at the fact that I  _ might _ want to fuck him.” He paused for a moment, staring at Hades like he was crazy. “As you just proved again.”

Hades’ eyes narrowed and then rolled, looking away. “I just don’t want you fucking douchebags, that’s all. Also, you have a new body now, it’ll hurt like a bitch.”

It took a moment to register in Poseidon’s brain. “I...hold on, who says I was gonna be the bottom?!”

Hades didn’t seem to find it funny. When he looked over at him with a deadpan look in his eyes Poseidon thought he might’ve been trying to crack a joke, but he seemed upset. “Poseidon.”

Poseidon laid down his pride for a second. “Okay, whatever—why are you so mad?”

Hades looked ahead. “Who says I’m mad?”

“Me. You look mad.”

“I just don’t want you to get hurt, Poseidon. Both ways.”

Poseidon ignored the last part. “Hades, I get that you’re protective of me, but I’m still four-thousand-and-something years old.” He said it softly, like he was comforting a child. He hadn't meant for it to come off that way, he hoped it didn’t rile Hades on further. “If John and I both want to, then it’s fine. I’m not saying I do, but you can’t monitor everything I do.” Poseidon thought he had been thinking that for a while, just subconsciously. Though he appreciated that Hades loved him enough to look out for him, he still had his own life and he was still responsible.

Hades’ jaw set. “I know.” It was through gritted teeth.

“So then why are you so mad?”

“Wait! Wait!  _ Wait!” _

Both Poseidon and Hades looked over. It was Zeus, frantically waving his arms. 

“Hades, you’re about to say something you’ll regret and I can feel it!” their youngest brother called in a little bit of a sing-song voice. “Don’t say it!”

Hades snapped his mouth shut and rolled his eyes, also apparently not finding this little show funny. Poseidon frowned, both at his reaction and the fact that he wasn’t denying that he was going to say something hurtful towards Poseidon.

“What were you going to say?” Poseidon asked softly, dreading the answer.

Hades was silent for a moment. “Nothing.”

“Would you have meant it?”

“No.” This time there was no hesitation.

“Really no or just no to make me feel better?”

“Really no. I’m just having a bad day.”

“We woke up fifteen minutes ago.”

“What an astounding observation.” It had a bit more bite to it than normal. Poseidon shut his mouth.

Zeus came up to them. “I was looking for you two. Where were you? Why are you up here?”

Hades kept walking and Poseidon followed suit. Zeus turned around and joined them. “We had to pick up bandages for Hades last night, but we got stuck in the supply room,” Poseidon explained. “It locks from the outside, or—" he cocked up an eyebrow, "—inside, if you’re in the main part of the infirmary. We had to stay in there for the night.”

“I...Oh,” Zeus said, giving them a weird look. “That’s...odd.”

Poseidon looked up at him. “What?”

Zeus’s eyes morphed from confused to hard, though he obviously tried to hide it. “How on earth did you manage to get…“stuck”?” He didn’t actually signal quotation marks, but he might as well have.

Poseidon recoiled a little bit, brows furrowed. It didn’t seem like a genuine question, it was one of those questions that was more of an accusation that you were lying. “I…I already said. The supply room door was open so we went in, but when we closed it it locked.”

“Why did you close it?”

“I…” Poseidon resisted the urge to throw his hands up. “I don’t know, Zeus. Just a habit, I guess. Why are you asking?”

Zeus’ jaw tightened a little bit. “You shouldn’t be up.”

Poseidon rolled his eyes. “I know, I know. We wanted to go back as quickly as possible, but it was locked. I promise I won’t get up again.”

Zeus was silent for a moment. “Why did Hades let you?”

Hades rolled his eyes. “I’m not his babysitter.”

“But you’re his older brother. You should let him know.”

“We’re hardly brothers, just biologically. And even then, not really.”

_ Ouch. _ While Poseidon technically agreed with the statement, the tone of it was unsettling. It wasn’t to start a petty argument, it was a ‘Poseidon and I aren’t brothers, don’t act like we are”. It made Poseidon shrink.

Zeus held up his hands. “Sheesh, damn. Harsh much? What the fuck, man?”

Hades’ face crumpled and he held the bridge of his nose, stopping and breathing deeply. All of Poseidon’s sadness suddenly left and was replaced with concern, stopping along with Hades. “What’s wrong?”

Hades shook his head and took another deep breath. When he removed his hands, his eyes were wet. “I’m just not in a people-mood right now, okay? I think I just need to spend today alone.”

Poseidon frowned. “I...okay, yeah, of course. But is it something I did?”

Hades shook his head. “No, no, not you…To do with you, but not…yeah, whatever.”

Poseidon’s frown deepened. “So there’s nothing I can do to make it better?”

“Just letting me be alone is good for now.”

Poseidon hesitated, but nodded. After a moment, he hugged him, wrapping his arms around his waist. Hades huffed out a small laugh and hugged him back. Poseidon inhaled Hades’ scent, burying his face in his shoulder. 

“Remember to stay in your cabin all day today, okay?” Hades reminded him, gently stroking his back.

“I will.” It came out muffled since Poseidon’s face was pressed into Hades’ front.

Hades pulled back. “Okay, good. Zeus, you make sure he does so.”

Poseidon looked over at Zeus to see his reaction, but his eyes were guarded. “Of course.”

Hades nodded. Without another word, he walked off to the left, towards the strawberry fields. Poseidon watched him go, frown still decorating his face. He stood there for a while until Hades was no longer in sight and his face was rosy from the sun beating down on it. 

“You should go back to your cabin,” Zeus said, sliding a hand onto his shoulder. “He wouldn’t want you to keep staring. There’s not much to stare at.”

Poseidon nodded and turned, sighing. He collapsed onto Zeus’s side, frown more of a pout now. He was left thinking about Hades, wondering why he was having such a bad day already. Did he sometimes just randomly have bad days? Or  _ was _ it Poseidon’s fault?

Zeus wrapped his arm around his shoulders and they walked over to the cabins with the same feet. They didn’t speak another word, but neither felt that they had to. Zeus was warm beside him and Poseidon got the urge to ask him what was wrong earlier, but he didn’t open his mouth. Despite him sleeping only moments prior, his bed did not sound too bad right now. He yawned and closed his eyes, trusting Zeus to guide them to where they needed to be.

***Zeus’ POV***   
  


Zeus was upset.

Well, kinda. Maybe “upset” wasn’t the right word. Jealous, perhaps. Lonely. Sad. What was the word for feeling left out? Because that.

Now, logically he knew he was overthinking this. First of all—Hades and Poseidon weren’t even dating, let alone fucking. Also, their explanation was perfectly plausible and he could definitely see how the scenario would’ve played out. But he still didn’t believe them.

Something in the back of his mind was telling him that something had gone down in that supply room, something they weren’t telling him about. The feeling didn’t provide any sort of context, like he wasn’t necessarily  _ certain _ that they banged, but given the inherent eroticism of being stuck in a closet with someone, he figured he subconsciously made the connection. So now, as he walked Poseidon back to his cabin with his arm over his shoulders, he narrowed his eyes. Poseidon seemed normal, didn’t have an extra flush to his cheeks or bruised lips or messy hair.  ~~He wasn’t limping, at least.~~ But Zeus still felt the urge to ask. But he shouldn’t, it was none of his business. Well it kinda was since they’re his brothers. But also no, it would be rude. But it would put his mind at ease. But it would make Poseidon uncomfortable. But—

Maybe Zeus was just horny.

Maybe  _ he _ was the horny one in this situation. Maybe there wasn’t an inherent eroticism of being stuck in a closet with someone and that was just him. Actually, that was probably it.

But his eyes did not un-narrow.

He wasn’t quite sure why the thought of Hades and Poseidon together upset him so much. It would be hypocritical of him to dislike it because they’re brothers, given the fact that he married his sister. Besides, they didn’t have to worry about such mortal things. But what else could it be?

Well, it was kind of obvious, but Zeus didn’t like to admit that he was feeling a negative emotion that wasn’t anger because of someone else.

If Hades and Poseidon got together, that would make him the third wheel. He wasn’t supposed to be the third wheel. He was supposed to be the big wheel on one of those bikes with a really big front wheel and a really tiny back wheel. Poseidon was the back wheel and Hades was the seat. That’s how it’s always been and that’s how it’s always supposed to be. Maybe Hades could join Poseidon and it would become a tricycle with one really big wheel and two small wheels.

He would be the outcast, not the one outcasting. And he wasn’t quite ready for that, even after a couple months of watching Hades and Poseidon grow closer to one another than to him. He didn’t think he’d ever be prepared for that. Given, he didn’t think Hades was prepared to be outcast all those years ago, either. But two wrongs don’t make a right, right?

“What are ya thinkin’ about?” Poseidon asked him through a yawn, snuggling into his shoulder. His hair was a little bit greasy, he must usually shower at night. It was still silky and fluffy, just not at the roots.

Zeus swallowed. He debated asking about it for a split second, but then decided against it. “Nothin’.”

“No, I know you’re thinking of something. I can feel it. I have superpowers.” Poseidon held up a finger to his temple.

Zeus smiled. Poseidon somewhat resembled a toddler when he got really tired. He always had. Just sometimes he acted like this, and other times he threw tantrums. “I don’t know, I feel like you wouldn’t wanna hear it. What are you thinking about?”

“Why? Are you thinking mean things about me?” Poseidon somehow pouted with his voice. A beat of silence. “I’m thinking about why Hades is upset. I think he might be annoyed at me because of last night.”

“Why would he be annoyed at you for last night? Were you the one that got you both stuck?” Zeus clung onto this opportunity: chances are this would give him some insight on what happened, or hopefully what  _ didn’t _ happen.

Poseidon shook his head and sighed. “No, but it was really dark in there and I had a little...episode. You know how I get sometimes. I’m worried that he’s tired of comforting me all the time.”

Zeus frowned. “First of all, you’re doing it again. And—”

Poseidon looked up at him with his brow furrowed. “Doing what again?”

“Acting like you don’t deserve to be comforted or that it’s a great big task for us to do so. But also, no I don’t know “how you get”. What do you mean by “episodes”?”

Poseidon looked suddenly uncomfortable. “Oh, y’know…”

Zeus raised an eyebrow and leaned his head forward, waiting for further explanation.

Poseidon huffed, cheeks colouring. “I’m scared of the dark, okay? And I had a mini panic attack thing. It’s not a big deal.”

Zeus blinked. This was new information. Was he supposed to know this? “You’re scared of the dark?” He processed more of the sentence. “You had a panic attack?”

Poseidon rolled his eyes, but Zeus could tell it was to deflect from his embarrassment. “Yes and yes. It’s not a big deal, that’s not why I brought it up. I just made Hades comfort me and then I slept on him all night so he probably couldn’t get a proper sleep.”

“You slept  _ on _ him?”

Poseidon looked up at him with confusion in his eyes. “Yeah? Like my back was on his chest and he was sitting against the wall.”

Zeus cleared his throat and looked away. “Oh, right. Yeah.”  _ I need to get my head out of the gutter.  _ Zeus’ brain backtracked. “First of all, you probably didn’t  _ make  _ him comfort you, he did it on his own. Also, shouldn’t we tell Will about the fact you had a ‘mini panic attack’? I don’t imagine too much strain on your noggin up there would be good for a concussion.”

“It wasn’t a physical thing,” Poseidon explained, conveniently forgetting about the first part. “I don’t think it should matter too much.”

Zeus screwed his face up and brought a hand up, waving it back and forth slightly. “Eh...I don’t know.” He let his hand drop. “I mean I’m no doctor, but I still don’t think we should brush it off. Might as well tell Will about it, he’ll be able to tell us. There’s no harm.”

Poseidon huffed and shook his head, cheeks colouring more.

Zeus looked down at him with utter confusion. “Why not?”

“I don’t want Will to know I’m afraid of the  _ dark, _ ” Poseidon explained, somewhat pouting.

Zeus rolled his eyes. “Will won’t care about that, you know he won’t. C’mon, he probably knows it’s from the cave thing.”

Poseidon looked up at him. “It’s not from the cave thing, though.”

Zeus’ brow furrowed. He caught Poseidon’s eyes, equally confused as his elder brother looked. “Well then why are you? Were you just born like that?”

Poseidon shook his head. “No, of course not. It was just…” He blinked at Zeus one more time and then looked away. “Oh, whatever. It’s embarrassing, you’ll make fun of me.”

“I’m not gonna make fun of you,” Zeus promised, now genuinely curious. Also a little worried, but the fact that Poseidon thought he might find it amusing kept him calm.

Poseidon went silent for a moment. Eventually he crossed his arms and rolled his eyes, keeping them away from Zeus’ direction. “It’s from Dad’s stomach, okay?”

Zeus’ eyebrows raised to his hairline. “Really? You’re still…?”

“You said you weren’t gonna make fun of me,” Poseidon said quickly, a trace of hurt in his voice.

“I’m not!” Zeus said hastily. “I’m not! Just...surprised, that’s all. I didn’t think it would’ve affected you to this day.”

Poseidon breathed through his nose quickly and kept his eyes away, but nodded nonetheless. “Okay, whatever. I still don’t want to tell him.”

“How about you just tell him you had a panic attack, then?” Zeus pushed. “There’s a chance it could shake things up. Just say you had it because...uh...oh! You could just  _ say _ it’s because of the Chaos thing. It’s not like that will be his main concern, anyway.”

Poseidon tilted his head to the side, shrugging lightly. Zeus’ arm went along with the movement. “Yeah, I suppose so. Can you do it, though?”

“Yeah, I think I have to,” Zeus replied. “You can’t really go visit him.”

They approached Poseidon’s cabin and Poseidon opened the door, letting both of them inside. The fact there was no hesitation to let Zeus inside made him a little giddy, though he pushed the feelings down. It just felt...nice. Like he and Poseidon were as close as Poseidon and Hades were. Now only if he had that feeling with Hades…

Poseidon immediately flopped onto the bed, getting under the blankets and bringing them up to his chin. He sighed. “I’m tired…” It was a mumble, muffled even more by the blankets.

Zeus tried not to tut. Poseidon could be quite adorable sometimes. “Didn’t you just wake up?”

“That’s none of your business.”

Zeus snorted and sat down on the other bed.

***Hades’ POV***

Hades collapsed against a rock, exhaling and immediately tangling his fingers in his hair.

The emotion he was feeling could not be described as one thing, but rather a collage or mix of things. He felt bad about being snippy with Poseidon and Zeus, jealous of Poseidon and John, _confused_ about Poseidon and John, embarrassed about being found by his son after sleeping with Poseidon (no, not _that_ way) ~~(Hades wished it was that way)~~ , guilty about sneaking into the infirmary without permission, sad about Poseidon potentially liking John, and now regret after hurting his back against the rock because he sat down too aggressively. His teeth hurt from grinding together and his jaw pulsed, his eyes squeezed tightly closed. It had only been twenty minutes, but this day was already one of the worst of his life.

He didn’t know what to do.

He couldn’t tell Poseidon how he felt, that would just be…absolutely disastrous. And besides, what would even come out of that? What would he want to come out of that? Was he even ready to date Poseidon? Did he  _ want  _ to? Was it just a three-week infatuation thing? He’d had those before. Would that count as cheating? What other repercussions would there be? 

The questions just kept coming. Was Poseidon mad at him for being bitchy this morning? Was he a bad person for not knowing Poseidon’s fear of the dark?

Wait.

It was a rather insignificant part of their journey as mortals, but it was memorable: Hades made Poseidon promise to stay with him in the Underworld for two days after this was all over. Would Poseidon be able to do that? Had he forgotten about it? It was one of those memories that stuck out at you for no particular reason, but that might not be the case for Poseidon. Hades wouldn’t be surprised if Poseidon had forgotten about it…A small feeling of disappointment creeped through Hades. Even though it  _ was _ rather insignificant, in the back of his mind he had been looking forward to it. Just him and Poseidon, all alone in his castle. It would be nice. Though it wasn’t his favourite place in the world, some parts of the castle were cozy and/or calming. He figured Poseidon might’ve liked it. But now he was not so sure. If Poseidon was just going to have panic attacks the whole time, it wasn’t worth it. Nothing was worth putting Poseidon under copious amounts of stress.

Hades started to bite his nails. His brain ran at a million miles an hour, now not being able to focus on one thing for an extended period of time. He started with trying to figure out if Poseidon was mad at him through trying to remember his body language, then he moved onto worrying that he and Zeus were talking shit about him, and then he eventually landed on trying to decipher the thing with John.

Was it his place to intervene? Was there anything to intervene?

Poseidon said he didn’t know if he liked him or not. That was good in the sense that it didn’t seem like a “I’m saying this to not fully admit I have a crush” thing and seemed like he genuinely didn’t know, but it was bad in the sense that it wasn’t a definite no like Hades would’ve liked. Hades bit one of his nails so hard it bled. If he did try to intervene, that would be possessive and gross, right? He had no entitlement to Poseidon. 

It just stung a little bit. What was John that he wasn’t? Wasn’t he better to Poseidon? John had hurt him.

Hades’ gut sank. 

But he had hurt Poseidon more.

Was Poseidon caught up on that? Was that why he was moving on to John? John seemed to have redeemed himself, he only hurt him once. Although, Hades didn’t know that for sure...He would say that John seems like the type of guy to be good to you after he hurt you but then just go right back to hurting you again, but being honest he didn’t seem like a “type of guy” at all. Hades couldn’t pin a personality on him, couldn’t figure out his morals or intentions. He was like the colour beige with an undertone that no one would quite put a finger on.

But regardless of the reason, Poseidon still had the potential to like him. What would Hades do then? Would he intervene? _Could_ he intervene? What would be his excuse? He supposed he could try to bring age into it, but he didn’t know if that would work. John was 20/21 and they couldn’t exactly find mortals close to their age. He supposed he could try to pull the “you’re in a 16 year old body, isn’t it weird for John to want to date you?”, but that might’ve been pushing it a little bit. Poseidon and John looked about the same age, John was just a lot taller. But John was a lot taller than everyone. His shoulders might’ve been a little broader, but at the most you would probably guess a two year age gap. Besides, it’s the difference in maturity that would make a 16 year old and a 20 year old so wrong, and Poseidon had 4000 years under his belt. But he could still make the argument, it  _ could  _ still be considered weird… 

Hades stopped himself.

_ It isn’t your place to intervene. Stop it. _

He sighed and placed his face in his hands. He could think of ways to stop them all day long, but he would never actually go through with any of them. It wasn’t his place, it was Poseidon’s life. He had been cast to the side before, he could handle it again.

Still, he sighed once more and thunked his head against the rock behind him.

Could he not just have one thing?

***Zeus’ POV***

Even though he had no reason to, Zeus was still dreading going to the infirmary. It didn’t really matter because he was already halfway up the steps, but he wanted more than anything to turn around and walk back to Poseidon’s cabin. Something about hospitals had always bothered him. He supposed the infirmary technically wasn’t a hospital, but still. He didn’t like the vibe.

Nonetheless, he knocked on the door. Within three seconds, a concerned-looking Will opened the door, brows furrowed and lips pulled into a frown. “Hello? Is anyone hurt?”

Zeus shook his head. “No, I’m just here to talk about Poseidon.”

“Oh, great, okay.” Will looked relieved and let him in, closing the door after he entered. Nothing much had changed in the infirmary since he last left, though he supposed nothing would've really caused any change. It had only been two or three hours.

“Like about what he had for breakfast or his concussion?” Nico asked, taking a huge bite of an apple in his hand.

Zeus rolled his eyes and breathed out his nose as a laugh. “His concussion.”

“I do actually want to look further into his eating habits though,” Will said, scribbling something down on a clipboard. He looked up. “But why are you here? Has something changed?”

Zeus shook his head, then stopped and looked diagonally upwards, waving his hand back and forth. “Eh...I suppose so, yeah. Um...I’m pretty sure you know he got up last night, right?”

Will sat down on one of the beds and gazed at him intently, pen in hand and resting on the clipboard. “Yes.”

Zeus shifted. “Well...something happened. Poseidon had a panic attack.” There was a pause. “And I was wondering if you think that might make his concussion worse.”

Will’s eyebrows raised up to his hairline. “Wait...like, a real panic attack? Like, a genuine one?”

Zeus glanced up again. “Well, I wasn’t there, but I think so. It’s what it sounded like.”

Will frowned and scribbled on his clipboard furiously. “He didn’t tell me he has panic attacks,” he mumbled, tongue sticking out slightly. He cleared his throat and spoke louder. “I mean, any sort of disturbance like arguing or loud noises, let alone panic attacks, would make me keep him a bit longer in his cabin. The point of it is to give him a four day long break from brain stimulation. I don’t believe it would make his concussion worse unless he fell during it and hit his head, but it probably didn’t help it either. You didn’t hear anything about that, right?”

Zeus shook his head. “No, but can you go back to the arguing part—”

“Yeah,” John spoke up hastily, voice shaking a little.

Zeus was practically already done with the sentence, but he still huffed at John for interrupting him. 

Will frowned and looked between them. “Uh...well, it’s loud noise and causes more brain stimulation than a normal conversation would. It would be really bad if he engaged in it, but hearing it can cause extra distress that would require a restart of the four days too. I’m usually not that strict, but Poseidon was showing a lot of symptoms and concussions can get worse if not treated properly. Why?”

John and Zeus shared a glance. Zeus cleared his throat. “Uhm…Hades, John and I got in a little…dispute not too long ago. Poseidon could hear it. Is that bad?” He said it calmly and in his “I’m talking to a mortal” voice, where he made himself sound even more superior than he already was. If what they did had repercussions, Will might be too intimidated to give it to them. It’s worked before.

Will didn’t actually seem to notice, just simply frowning. “Well, yes: that is bad. Don’t do it again. But he has to restart now anyway, so it’s fine for now. But yeah, definitely don’t do it again.”

John and Zeus nodded, both in relief, but only John showed that part. 

Nico bit into his apple again. “What did you fight about?” 

“Nico,” Will scolded. “This is work, no petty things.”

Nico rolled his eyes and stuck out his tongue. Zeus was grateful for the excuse to not answer, and he had a feeling John was in the same boat. He didn’t really feel like saying “Hades thinks John is trying to fuck Poseidon’s brains out and we don’t like that so we went and confronted him about it but then it turns out he doesn’t want to do that but we tried to convince him that he does anyway and then Poseidon came out and was like “???” and then we just argued more”.

“Was it about Poseidon?” Nico asked innocently.

Will threw a pen at him.

(A.N. PLEASE READ THE END AUTHOR'S NOTES TEEHEE!!!!)  
  


  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OKAY SO MANY THINGS!!!!  
> first of all: I forget if Nico already knew Poseidon was bi but shhhhh ok it was a haha funny joke  
> second of all: I know the ending to this chapter was a little abrupt and not much happened this chapter, but I can't really get into a another spicy part until there's more build up😔next chapter there may be a lil party which will be fun tho😳  
> third of all: I am receiving a shit ton of suggestions which is really awesome but that makes it easy to forget some, so if you notice that I haven't included ur idea just give me a reminder in the comments!!!!  
> fourth of all: I know bi people aren't "half gay", 'twas just a haha funny😔 I am a Bi myself so I can make that joke teehee   
> OKAY NOW VOTING!!!!  
> I want y'all two vote on two things:  
> 1) should I make Poseidon and John date? yes or no. As a fair warning: if they did date it would be at the most two weeks lol, 'tis for plot purposes. I can try to make up another scenario that would give the same effect to the plot as them dating would, but it may be lil difficult.   
> 2) should I make them go on another small quest thing? I'm not sure if I want to do that bc that would mess up the plot I already have in my head and I would have to come up with another idea for a quest, but I do know that this may be a little too slow-paced, even for hardcore slow burn stans. its up to y'all!
> 
> ok thank u for reading this!!! remember to vote!!!!! and if ur over 18 in America then do the actual voting too!!
> 
> (also oh yeah btw school has started back up and it's in-person for me😔) 
> 
> xx


	18. update

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> jus a lil update :(

hey y’all heh

im not gonna be updating this fic for another little bit. I’m not abandoning it!!! but within the past few chapters I’ve noticed that ppl are bein a little more harsh with their suggestions and idk. It never used to be like that, this was all just for fun. And it feels like it’s not for fun anymore :( I don’t blame y’all so do NOT feel bad!!!!! I should be able to handle it, it’s my fault. I jus don’t know. it’s not fun anymore :(

Again!!! I am not abandoning this!!!! My updates are more like a month apart now anyway, but I just need a break I think. I’ll take all ur suggestions and stuff later on!! 

but yeah. idk. again, it’s not your fault, I just wish that comments and stuff were like how they used to be in the first fic and earlier on in this one :( I’m not gonna explain what I mean bc that might make u feel like you’ve done smth wrong when you really haven’t. as stated before, I should be able to handle it. I just don’t know, I need a break. I also don’t think I can reply to comments for now, but thank you if you did!!! I appreciate them, really!! Seriously, the fact that you take time out of your day to read this and write something to reply is insane. I WILL reply to them!! I swear!!! Maybe even before my break ends, I just can’t for my own sake rn lol

Also, keep commenting how u already were when I continue this!!!! Please!!! Don’t take this as a “oh I can never say I don’t like something ever again” bc that is not what I want u to do!! I need the criticism on my dumbass ideas and suggestions to change them lol. I just need a lil break from it for now :) Again, this is literally all me, so don’t pin this on yourself or any of the other commenters. it’s no one’s specific fault, so don’t read this and be like “oh I commented one (1) suggestion or thing I didn’t like so this must be my fault” bc that’s not true. Even if you commented either of those things more than once, it’s not your fault. I probably appreciated you commenting!! Seriously, it’s none of your faults, genuinely!!

I will admit that one comment kinda pushed me to this point, but the comment on its own is not the reason, it was everything before it and that little Unnecessary Part of it that made me a little bit sad. The rest of it was totally valid, again this is all me!! And actually, the rude part was valid too bc it was genuinely a stupid idea!! I’m not sure how many times I’ve said that, but I really want to drive it home lol. so yeah. Also, don’t read through the comments bc you might be able to figure out which one it is and may feel the urge to reply to it, and I do Not Want That To Happen. the person was probably just trying to be funny and my dumb sensitive ass took it the wrong way. no arguing!!

im also really not sure how long the break will be. It could be like two weeks, but I would start writing the next chapter after two weeks so the next update would probably be a month. The break could be longer than that too. I’m going to try to not make it any longer than a month and 3/4, but yeah. I just need a little break. I also think the feeling of constant pressure to write this for the past 7/8 months has also played into it not being fun anymore. idk. 

Again!!!! just because the comments are playing into it doesn’t mean it’s your fault!!! it’s my fault for how I register and perceive the comments!! Do not apologize for smth you aren’t in the wrong for!! It’s literally just valid criticism and I’m just Dumb Dumb!

and thank you sm for reading this!!! Seriously, I know it’s not been very good recently so thank u for sticking with it anyway!!! After the break, I’ll hopefully be back to writing well and stuff!! So yeah!!!! I love you guys to the moon and back, see you anytime within the next month and 3/4!!!

(i’ll also still he active on tumblr, so if for some reason you wanna see me there then it’s also loloisafangirl :) which is a dumb name now that I think abt it skjddjjf)

ok bye!!!! I love u!!!!! Don’t feel bad!!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, I won’t be replying to comments right now, but hopefully within the week maybe!! It’s just that That comment is effecting me more than it probably should so yeah. I don’t wanna look at them for now bc I will be sad so. When I get over it I will reply!!! Also, some of u write a lot in the comments, wow!!!!! Haha. I’ll make sure to reply to y’all too obviously!! Just don’t have the energy rn teehee. Love u and don’t feel bad!! Thank u for everything!!


	19. mysterious as the dark side of the moon :')

So.

Sad boy hours, huh?

50 days ago at the time I’m writing this, I updated this fic saying I was going to take a break, but that I’m not discontinuing it. Unfortunately, I’m not so sure if that’s the case anymore.

Now, it is a possibility that I will update this again in the future. It’s just definitely not going to be on a strict schedule. And even then, the key word in that sentence is 'possibility'. And it's not a very likely one, either.

Over my break, I wondered why the comments actually affected me so much. After all, none of them were even really that mean. 

And I think I figured out why. Actually, I think I’ve known for a while.

It wasn’t really the comments, it was me trying to come up with an excuse as to why I didn’t like writing this anymore. The truth of the matter is, I’ve just...lost interest in writing. And, unfortunately, I’m losing interest in Greek mythology, too. I shipped this at the very start of the first fic and until about ¾ of the way through, but since then I’ve just been writing this because you guys like it. Which makes sense, obviously, and I loved making y’all happy, but I’m just not sure if I can do it anymore. Over the break I’ve realized how much I enjoyed not feeling any pressure to write and being able to just go to sleep without stressing over the date I was supposed to have this up. Man, I used to stay up until 2 AM some nights, just trying to get shit written down. I didn’t care if it was good or not, I just knew I wouldn’t be able to sleep if I didn’t make some sort of progress.

Man.

I’ve made the decision to not pursue writing as a career right now, which is what I’ve wanted to do for the past three years. I could’ve gotten a professional mentor for free, but I turned it down. It felt like the first really big decision of my life, and it feels like this might be the next one. I know it’s just a fanfiction, but it would mean me finally confessing that I don’t even like writing as a hobby anymore. Which is hard, because writing was such a big part of me for such a long time. In my eyes, it’s what made me special. What 12/13/14 year old writes 250k+ words just for fun, y’know? But. It’s just not me anymore, and I think, in the end, it would be harder for me to continue acting like it is than to finally admit that it’s not.

I’m not entirely sure what to do. 

Should I give this to someone else? Should I just flat out discontinue it here? How would I even give this to someone else? Do I want to? Should I just write a chapter of them getting together? I don’t know. I'm not sure if I would even be able to give it up to someone else. It feels like this is my baby, in a way.

Most of all, I’m sorry. Y’all have read 109k words, just for it to be left uncompleted. Including RRIFOMS, you’ve read 263,431 words. And I’d like to say that you technically got an ending in the first one, but I purposefully left things unanswered for the sequel, and now you aren’t getting that either. I’m sorry.

Some of y’all have been following me since the very first chapter of the very first fic, way back in the November of 2018. Almost exactly two years ago. Wow. That’s…insane. I just got choked up writing that lol. And it feels like part of me is getting discontinued with this too. The little bookworm part of me that writes percy jackson fanfiction. I don’t want to leave her behind, but I can’t keep her either. Man I fucking hate growing up dude.

Another thing that makes this so hard is that I really don’t want to discontinue my relationship with you guys, and it feels like ending this kind of does that exact thing. I know the vast majority of you also follow my tumblr, but this felt like our own little club, y’know? Away from the rest of my followers. Kind of like the group of friends that get to stay over at the secret sleepover. Y’all have helped me through so much. You’ve helped me in ways that I don’t think you’ll ever understand. Part of the reason why I started this fic + my tumblr is because I wanted to have a voice. I wanted an audience of people like me, people I could talk to, people that would listen to me. And y’all provided that for me. I’ve always wanted to tell stories, and I don’t think I’ll ever stop wanting to. But the medium of which I want to tell them has changed. And I’m sorry.

If for some reason you aren’t completely seething at me right now and want to continue to support me, I’m doing youtube now. Man…it feels stupid just saying it lmao. But I am. And I’m gonna be damn good at it, too. Shit dude, I’ve spent money on equipment. _ Money. _ Lmao. I’m not going to give up on the voice I’ve created for myself, I’ve done that shit for too many years. This isn’t supposed to be self promotion, I’m just telling y’all where my energy is going to be focused from now on. But if, for some strange reason, you do decide you want to keep up with me, here’s the link:  [ https://m.youtube.com/channel/UC90En6XmeczlUl7ma7zvBhw ](https://m.youtube.com/channel/UC90En6XmeczlUl7ma7zvBhw) . However, feel absolutely no pressure to. Again, this is just me telling you where my focus is now going to be as sort of an explanation. It’s not about Greek mythology or Percy Jackson, so really. No pressure. If you're not interested, skip over the thing in brackets/go to the next paragraph. (But for those that do, I will be posting very soon.  _ Very _ soon. I suppose the videos I’m going to post would be considered commentary, but it will never be about specific people. For example, my first video is probably going to be about country music lol. So...I review things while attempting to be funny? lol. If you’ve ever watched Kurtis Conner or Danny Gonzalez, it will be similar to their videos. But don’t you dare feel like you have to. If you by any chance happen to be reading this in the future, I may have posted by now. Check it out maybe? teehee. if you're in the present, I will post the link on my Tumblr when I post a video. It should be soon. I'm also posting this before I post on Tumblr about it, so maybe you can be my first subscriber aljhfksdjh. Not like it's an achievement, but still. okay moving on to the rest of Me Being Sad).

Back to fanfiction talk, again. I’m truly sorry.

As stated earlier, it is not completely out of the question that I may pick this up again one day. It’s just not likely. It's also not likely that I will reply to comments on the previous two chapters (I'm still feeling drained—I guess some of the comments did play a small part lol), but know that I have read them and appreciate them. Please let me know what you think I should do. Should I skip a bunch of plot points and just write what could’ve been the end? But I don't want to do that either, it would feel weird and forced. Should I just stop it here? I don’t know.

Regardless of what happens, thank you. Thank you so much. For supporting me, for commenting, for reading in general. Fuck, for even clicking on this dude. Y’all have brought me more joy than anything else over the past two years. I will never forget this and I’ll never forget you. Even if I cringe back on this, which hell—I already am—know that I’ll never forget or downplay how much this really meant to me. How much y’all really mean to me. I know you have a shit ton of other fics to read, but this has been my life for the past two years. And it’s fucking sad as all hell to end it. Fuck man, this shit shouldn’t be so fucking sad lmao. 

I know I could just continue this anyway, but I don’t think that would be fair to y’all either. The chapters would be lackluster, it would be obvious that I don’t want to do it. And man...as crazy as it sounds, I really hope this youtube thing works out. Y’all know how much I like talking. I really want to put my focus into it. Obviously that’s not the only reason, but...yeah. I don’t know. Maybe it will :)

I can’t put into words how much I love y’all and how hard coming to this decision has been. But at the end of the day, I think it’s what's right for me. Y’all have changed my life and how I view myself, and I really cannot even... _ begin _ to give you even an idea of how much I mean that. Ending this isn’t hard, it’s letting you down that’s hard. And I’m sorry. Truly, genuinely. Not even just the Canadian in me apologizing for everything.

But hey, y’all won’t murder me, right?

Right?

Seriously. I love you. I love you more than words can express. And yes, I’m talking about  _ you. _ Not just every other person reading this, you specifically. You, who has your own life, your own opinions, your own favourite colour, your own level of disappointment right now. You, who has taken time out of your life to read this fanfiction all the way to this point...all the way to the end. You, who has continued to support me despite all the shit I make you go through. Or...made you go through, I suppose. Fuck, man. I love you. I’ll never be able to repay y’all for the shit you’ve done for me. And this definitely is not the first step to doing that, but...man. I just got a gut feeling dude. Shit.

So…farewell to you, farewell to Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades, and farewell to my 12-year-old self who jumped up and down on her bed the moment she posted the first chapter all those months ago.

I’m sorry.

I love you.

I’ll miss this.

But it’s time to say goodbye.

  
  
  
  


man I’ve always hated that word.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tbh I was going to make a joke here but I can’t. I just...I love y’all so much. Thank you so fucking much. I’m sorry again. And this is probably so fucking dumb because it’s literally a fanfction, but still. Holy shit I’m deadass crying. Wow.  
> Alright.  
> Goodbye, for now.  
> Hopefully, you’ll hear from me again. Of me again.   
> And maybe not. That's okay too, right?  
> Okay.  
> I love you.  
> Xx.


End file.
